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An analysis of the theory and practice of contemporary corrections as a professional activity
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An analysis of the theory and practice of contemporary corrections as a professional activity
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AN ANALYSIS OP THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OP CONTEMPORARY
CORRECTIONS AS A PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Public Administration
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science in Public Administration
by
Robert R. Miller
r * *
June i960
This thesis, w ritten by
. ROBERT .............
under the direction of the undersigned Guidance
Com m itte, and approved by a ll its members, has
been presented to and accepted by the F a cu lty of
the School o f P u b lic A d m in istra tio n in p a rtia l f u l
fillm e n t of the requirements fo r the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Date.........
Guidan ceJdp m mittee :
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PACE
I. INTRODUCTION. ............................. 1
Purpose of studj.......................... 1
Limitation of the study................. 1
Importance of the study................. 2
Definition of terms used. ............. 5
Professionalism. . . . . . . . . . . 5
Corrections............................ 5
Sub-profession........... 5
Professional frame of reference ........ 6
Treatment.............................. 6
Sources of material................... 6
Organization of the remainder of the
thesis................................. 6
II. REVIEW OP LITERATURE............... 8
Literature on professionalism ........... 8
Literature on corrections...................11
Limitations of previous studies............ 12
III. AN ANALYSIS OP PROFESSIONALISM................13
Definition of professionalism........... 13
Difficulty in defining................. 13
A consideration of definitions............l6
Historical approach to professionalism. . . I9
ii
CHAPTER PAGE
Pre-literate history......................19
Early recorded history....................20
Professionalism since the Industrial
Revolution. ............. 22
Professionalism in the twentieth
century................................ 23
Summary ............................2lf
IV. THE CRITERIA OP PROPESSIONALISH.............. 26
Introduction. . ..........................26
Intellectual orientation................. 28
Ability to influence society................ 3k
The existence of a sub-culture. ...... l \ l
Social versus commercial orientation. ... 56
Summary ...................... 63
V. EVOLUTION OP CONTEMPORARY CORRECTIONS .... 6l | .
Definition. ..........................6 1 } .
Historical development...................... 66
Pre -literate.............................. 66
Peudal era............................... 69
Transportation.................. 70
Era of reform............................71
The Pennsylvania and Auburn systems ... 75
Contemporary corrections....................77
Penology................... 78
ill
CHAPTER PAGE
Probation and parole............... 86
Summary ........... . • 96
VI. EVOLUTION OP THE CORRECTIONAL WORKER. .... 98
Introduction. ...................... 98
Social attitudes toward corrections .... 98
Corrections* position in the governmental
process . ......................... 103
Major conflicts......................107
Problems in purpose ............... . I08
Problems in identification......... 112
Problems of a generic nature............ 117
The dilemma of causation and cure.... 122
Profile of the correctional worker. .... 130
VII. A COMPARISON OP CORRECTIONS WITH THE
CRITERIA OP PROFESSIONALISM.......... I3I +
Corrections as an intellectually
oriented activity .................. 135
Corrections as an instrument of social
impulse ..........................138
Corrections as a sub-culture........... . 1^.1
Corrections as a socially as versus
commercially oriented activity...... 1I 4 .2
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
VIII. SÜMMARÏ AND CONCLUSIONS......................
Summary ....................................
Conclusions.................................l i j . 7
BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................. .1I4. 9
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
I. PURPOSE OF STUDY
It is the purpose of this study (1) to identify
and examine the theory and substance of professionalism
as a state of occupational achievement, (2) to examine
and analyze the nature and theoretical substance of con
temporary corrections within this frame of reference, and
(3) to determine what steps remain to be taken in correc
tions* development to full professional stature.
II. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
I It is not the purpose of the study to accomplish
an expose of corrections as it is presently practiced
either nationally or in any specific governmental juris
diction. Similarly it is not intended that the study
will concern itself with the problem of whether or not
corrections presently enjoys, or can hope to achieve,
true professional stature. Such determination would
; necessitate (1) clearly defined and measurable criteria
of professionalism, and (2) methods whereby occupations
could be mathematically tested to establish whether they
are professional or non-professional. Neither instruments
2
presently exist. The study will assume, therefore, that
occupational superiority in the form of professional |
stature does exist, and that through growth, development, I
I
and applied effort, occupations can lift themselves to I
such estate.
The study is further limited by the vague nature
of contemporary correctional theory as well as by the
broad difference existent in its applications. Specific
examination of the many probation and parole systems, as
well as the countless prisons and other detention facili
ties, would require numerous volumes and would then result
in non-specific conclusions. Realizing these limitations,
the study will concern itself more with a general overview
of the field, relying more on theoretical context than
specific practices for analytical substance.
III. IMPORTANCE OP THE STUDY
During the past half century society has witnessed
significant changes in its occupational culture. Maturity
of the age of the machine and introduction of the influence
of automation have caused numerous new technologies to
spring into being. In the social sciences new occupational
horizons have been realized in social work, in the treat
ment of the emotionally ill, in methods of dealing with
the delinquent, and in other activities.
3
The resultant effects of these changes have been
many, and the impact on accompanying economic, social,
and psychological changes in professionalism has been con
siderable. Emphasis on materialistic values suggest a
prostitution of the time honored callings as avenues to
wealth and position. A foreboding is suggested in the
quest for professional recognition without professional
responsibility, by many of the lesser occupational activi-|
ties. Increased learning, specialization, and methodology
supposedly support brash claims. It is suggested, none
theless, that the institution of professionalism is more
in decline than general occupational performance in assent.
The growing emphasis upon professionalism, coupled
with the growing importance of the professions in shaping
today* 3 world, make professional substance and achievement
matters of grave social concern. Society is rapidly
attaining a state of economic complexity and occupational
sophistication where it can no longer assume an attitude
of disinterest in the matter of its professional activi
ties. In that these activities shape, to a considerable
degree, the culture in which man exists, they must be
subject to close scrutiny. No occupational activity
should be permitted to assume the socially significant
estate of professionalism until it has evidenced qualities
of superiority.
h
There has been evidence in recent years of (1) a
quickening interest in and reliance upon corrections by
society, and (2) an ever-increasing tendency, on the part
of corrections, to assert the possession of professional
stature. There has been little or no effort initiated
to relate this later assumption to an accredited frame of
reference. Dr. Lieberman keynotes the need for such |
accrediting when he states:
The experience of the established professions
clearly indicates that occupational groups do not
achieve professional status . . . unless they under
stand the significance of professional status and
the problems of professionalization confronting
their occupational group.1
This suggested indictment is particularly meaning
ful in the case of corrections in the light of its unique
social significance. Sloane*s observation is specifically
applicable:
The professional” question should be faced
squarely by all persons . . . so that a clear-cut
path can be hewn through the illogical and some
times inane methods that have been attempted in an
apparent effort to secure more prestige.2
One of the basic viewpoints of the study is that
occupations generally, and corrections, specifically.
Myron Lieberman, Education as a Profession
(Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice kail. Inc., 1956),
p* vii.
^C. P. Sloane, ”Professionalization of the Police
Service,” The Journal of Criminal Law. Criminology, and
Police Science. iiS:77. May-June, 195Ü..
5
mist rest claims of professional stature upon clearly
identifiable and definable foundations.
IV. DEFINITION OP TERMS USED
Throughout the study certain terms are used to
convey specific meaning. In order that these meanings
will be understood, the following definitions are pro
vided:
Prof es si onali sm. Professionalism is identified
as a state of occupational excellence, or superiority,
reflected in the existence of the basic characteristics
of a professional activity as distinguished from an
occupational activity. The following terms will make
reference to this estate: professional activity, pro
fessional status and stature, profession, etc.
Corrections. The term corrections, as used in this
study, is meant to imply the total effort to treat the
delinquent as reflected in the practices of probation,
penology and parole. These applications are dealt with
at length in Chapter V.
Sub-profes3ion. The term, sub-profession, refers
to those occupations possessing many, though not all, of
the characteristics of a profession, yet sufficiently
superior to the non-professional occupations to permit
separate identity.
Professional frame of reference. Briefly stated j
this refers to the context within which a subject, or
topic, is considered. It is established by the character,
content and construct of accredited professional standards
and practices.
Treatment. This term makes reference to the total
effort to identify and deal with the problems contributing
to the delinquency of individuals.
V. SOURCES OP MATERIAL
The material gathered for this study comes from
three principle sources: First, and foremost, through
extensive reading in the field of (1) professionalism, and
(2) corrections. A second source of material was realized
through personal interviews with administrators, practi
tioners, teachers, students, and researchers in correc
tions. Lastly, the writer has drawn on certain observa
tions and experiences from his own twenty years exposure
to the corrections field.
VI. ORGANIZATION-OP THE REMAINDER OP THE THESIS
Chapter II reviews the literature related to (1)
the examination of professional status, and (2) the
history and development of contemporary practices in
7
corrections*
Chapter III considers professionalism from a theo
retical viewpoint developing its theoretical context both
from the point of view of definition and historical
development.
Chapter IV deals with the development of the char
acteristics of professionalism as a necessary frame of
reference for subsequent examination of corrections.
Chapter V considers the evolution of corrections
and discusses its contemporary theory and practice.
Chapter VI deals with the worker in corrections
and gives attention to some of the major problems con
fronting him.
Chapter VII examines the theory and exercise of
! corrections as it relates itself to the professional frame
of reference.
Chapter VIII summarizes and draws basic conclu
sions.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATTJRE
In that the study gives attention to the correla
tion of two separate, though related, areas, profess!onal-
I
ism and corrections, the literature a propos to the
research is divided into two rather distinct segments.
There is extensive literature available in both areas in
the form of texts, articles, publications of government,
learned societies and other organizations. The literature
in each segment of the study is unique. Per the most
part literature germane to professionalism is to be found
; in publications of the government and in periodicals.
Conversely, corrections is treated more extensively in
, books. There is a definite paucity of literature that is
germane to the specific nature of this study.
I. LITERATURE ON PROFESSIONALISM
For the better part, writings on professionalism
are related to specific applications such as teaching,
social work, and the like, or to specific criteria which
the author wishes to emphasize. Interestingly, there
appears to be no complete and exhaustive examination of
professionalism in regard to its definition and criteria.
It is observed that various students of the subject tend
8
9
to emphasize various specific criteria as most important,
even symbolizing professional achievement. Only in a very
few studies of the subject is rather general attention
given to its broad qualities.
A rather exhaustive listing of publications and
articles on professionalism is to be found in the biblio
graphy.
Some of the more outstanding studies are the fol
lowing: Myron Lieberman considers professionalism as it
relates itself to the field of education.^ He identifies
eight basic criteria for professional stature and
critically evaluates teaching against these standards.
Much of the theoretical content of this work is applicable
to other occupational groups.
Abraham Plexner, in 1915. spelled out the criteria
of a profession and measured the youthful field of social
work against that criteria much in the fashion undertaken
in this thesis.^ This is one of the earliest analyses
of contemporary professionalism and its six basic criteria
are as evident in today* s professional profile as they
were then. In addition to the physical dimensions of
^Myron Lieberman, Education as a Profession
(New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 19^6).
^Abraham Plexner, **Is Social Work a Profession?”
Studies in Social Work (New York: New York School of
Philanthropy, 1915). 4:5.
10
professionalism the author speaks of the spirit necessary
to its attainment*
.L# Allen approaches professionalism on the basis of
the degree of prestige reflected in the occupational
3
hierarchy. This author describes professionalism in
terms of altruism, service to society, and the extent of
preparation evident. Throughout the paper the suggestion
is made that professionalism, as a puritanical, non-mater
ialist ic institution is subject to challenge,
Garr-Saunders and Wilson present, perhaps, the
most exhaustive study of professionalism available,^
Their text addresses itself to both the theoretical and
the practical aspects of the subject. In its considera
tions attention is directed to both contemporary concepts
and historical origins,
Sidney and Beatrice Webb approach the topic from
the standpoint of the professional association basing
their findings upon study of such groups, in England,
prior to 1917*^ Although limited in its consideration of
the topic, it presents excellent discussion upon this
^Ii, Allen, "Some Measures of Professional Stature,”
Journal of the National Association of Deans of Women,
17 5 li |3 -ll| 8, June, 1954 .
^A. M, Carr-Saunders and P, A. Wilson, The Profes
sions (Oxford, England: The Clarendon Press, 1933)•
5sidney and Beatrice Webb, "Professional Associa
tions,” The New Statesman, 9-I0:2-I|.8, April, I9 1 7.
11
particular professional characteristic.
Lloyd E, Blauch brought together, in one study,
contributions of thirty-four occupational groups with
emphasis upon development, professional performance, and
6 '
specific attention to applicable professional education. \
II. LITERATURE ON CORRECTIONS
A vast quantity of literature is available in both
the theory and practice, as well as the history of correc
tions as reflected in the activities of penology, proba
tion, and parole. Few, if any of these works, however,
give more than indirect reference to the subject of this
thesis, the professional stature of corrections. Mich of
what is written is specific rather than general, practice-
oriented rather than theoretical. Furthermore, for the
most part, literary efforts are directed at specific areas
of the work; probation, juvenile work, custody, parole
supervision, and so forth. The absence of extensive treat
ment of the field of corrections as a whole may be sug
gestive of its attainments in professional unity and
cohesiveness.
Major works in this area and germane to this study
Lloyd E. Blauch (ed.), Education for the Profes
sions (Washington, D.C.: Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare, Qovemment Printing Office, 1955).
12
are Paul Tappan’s composite of current thinking by today’s
7
leaders in the field; Lloyd E. Ohlin* s discussion of the
position of sociology in the field of corrections;^ and
9
Bames and Teeters exhaustive study of corrections.
III. LIMITATIONS OP PREVIOUS STUDIES
As the bibliography of this study reflects, the
literature available is for the most part related to the
specific aspects of the occupational field under examina
tion. Its reference to the subject of this paper is
indirect. It is difficult, therefore, to single out
specific literary effort as of greater or lesser value to
the work.
Substantial material exists upon which the student
can draw for study of both professionalism as a state of
occupational achievement and the theory and practice of
corrections. From the standpoint of this research, how
ever, there is little that can be identified as directly
related to the problem under consideration.
^Paul Tappan. Contemporary Corrections (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 19^1;.
Q
Lloyd E. Ohlin, Sociology and the Field of Cor
rections (New York: Russell Sage Founciation, 1956).
9Harry Elmer Bames and Negley K. Teeters, New
Horizons in Criminology (third edition; New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1959)#
CHAPTER III
AN ANALYSIS OP PROFESSIONALISM
I. DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONALISM
In order that an examination of the correctional
process can be made as it relates itself to professional
standards and to allow examination of the workers in this
activity a careful and thorough consideration of the sub
stance of professionalism should first be accomplished.
It is the purpose of this chapter to introduce a
frame of reference for professionalism by examining it
from the standpoint of its theoretical context and sub
stance, This will be accomplished by (1) an analysis of
existing definitions of professionalism, and (2) a cursory
examination of its history and development.
Difficulty in defining. Efforts to define profes
sionalism are met with almost immediate disappointment.
As with many contemporary social, economic and political
institutions the researcher finds himself engaged in pro
blems of semantics in attempting to determine what is ob
served and agreed upon. No clearly defined guide lines
exist within which one can delineate, with any degree of
precision, the hallmarks of professionalism. Lieberman,
in his discussion of professionalism in education, put
13
14
the problem in these words:
Many definitions of the concept "professionalism”
have been proposed from time to time, but none is
so widely accepted that it may be regarded as
authoritative.l
Abraham Plexner reduced the concept of profession
or professionalism to basic characteristics in identify
ing it as the opposite of amateur. An individual is pro
fessional in Plexner’s opinion, if "his entire time is
devoted to an activity, as against one who is transiently
2
or provisionally engaged,”
In further argument that professionalism is, in
effect a non-existent estate Plexner pursues a cynical
attitude in this observation:
. • . the term is too vague to be fought for. We
may as well let down the bars and permit people to
call themselves professional for no better reason
than that they choose in this way to appropriate
whatever of social distinction may still cling to a
term so obviously misused,3
It is noteworthy that this opinion was expressed in
reference to the estate of professionalism as it existed
in 1915.
Plexner is not alone in his contention that
^Myron Lieberman, Education as a Profession (Hew
Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc♦, 1956). p. 1.
p
Abraham Plexner, ”Is Social Work a Profession?”
Studies in Social Work (Hew York: Hew York School of
Pîiilanthropy, 1<^5). P* 4*
^Ibld.
15
professionalism is a meaningless term. Broudy in his
discussion of professional prestige contends that the
white-collar worker, in his quest for professional recog
nition, seeks nothing more than a higher rank in the com
mercial hierarchy through the attainment of prestige#^
In his consideration of the definition of professionalism,
he points out, in rather firm tenas, that we fail to prac
tice what we profess and hence are incapable of defining,
speaking as we honestly must, about an intangible estate
that is more mythical than real.
Further support in the denunciation of the term is
found in the argument that professionalism is a conspiracy
against society, an institution dedicated to monetary
, rewards, monopoly, exploitation of the public and viola-
I tion of the democratic process. There is undoubtedly
merit to the argument that the benefits of professional
ism are more attractive than the responsibilities and
sacrifices demanded by that high estate. Many persons
who embrace the institution of professionalism would
quickly lose interest if they understood the full meaning
6
of the concept.
s. Broudy, "Academic Requirements and Profes
sional Prestige,” School and Society, 5l:7-12, January 6,
1940.
^Lieberman, op, cit., p, 17*
^Ibldl. p. 18.
i6
The problem of an adequate definition for profes
sionalism is made additionally difficult in light of the !
unusual growth in the professions during the past century.
While observing an eight fold growth in the nation’s work
ing classes a twenty-six fold increase has been witnessed
7
in professional classes. Whether this reflects qualita- ,
tive or quantitative factors is not known. The examina
tion that follows is supported somewhat by such inquiry.
Unquestionably, society observes vastly larger numbers
of people engaging in the professions. The question is,
has professionalism descended to a point where it absorbs
increasing numbers of vocations?
Although there is unquestionably substance to the
argument that professionalism is an abstraction and to a
certain extent an intangible entity there is substantial
evidence to support the contrary point of view, that such
a state does exist and that it possesses characteristics
that allow clear identification and description,
A consideration of definitions. Following are but
a few of the available definitions of professionalism.
According to Webster it is:
The occupation, if not purely commercial, mechanical,
agricultural, or the like, to which one devotes one
self ; a calling in which one professes to have
^Lloyd E. Blauch, Educati on for the Professions
(U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welf are ; "Washing-
ton, D.G.: Government Printing Office, 1955)*
17
acquired some special knowledge used by way either
of instructing, guiding, or advising others, or of i
serving them in some art: as the profession of arms, I
of teaching, of chemist.° |
I
The Dictionary of Education identifies profession
as: "An occupation involving relatively long and special
ized preparation on the level of higher education and
Q
governed by a special code of ethics." A more comprehen
sive definition is suggested in the Occupational Indexes
which identify the professions as:
Occupations that predominantly require a high de
gree of mental activity by the worker and are con
cerned with theoretical or practical aspects of com
plex fields of human endeavor. Such occupations
require for the proper performance of the work either
extensive and comprehensive academic study, or experi
ence of such scope and character as to provide an
equivalent background, or a combination of such edu
cation and experience.10
Further understending is obtained through a con
sideration of the professional worker described thus:
A professional worker is one who performs advisory,
administrative, or research work which is based upon
the established principles of a profession or science,
and which requires professional, scientific or tech
nical training equivalent to that represented by
graduation from a college or university of recognized
standing, or one who performs work which is based
upon the established facts, or principles, or methods
in a restricted field of science or art, and which
debaters Hew International Dictionary (second edi
tion; Springfield, Mass.: Merriam Co., 1% 3), p. 1976.
^The Dictionary of Education (Hew York: McGraw-
Hill Book“Go., 1959), p. 4 1 5.
^^Dictionarv of Occupational Classification and In
dustry Index. Vol. II (second edition: Washington. D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Office, 19lj.9), p. 1..
18
requires for its performance an acquaintance with
these established facts, or principles, or methods
gained through academic study or through extensive
practical experience, one or both.H
In this definition a more substantial, tangible
entity commences to take form. It is made further under
standable by definition of profession as rendered by the
Management Dictionary which states:
An occupation which requires preliminary training
of an intellectual nature and which involves knowl
edge and learning rather than skill alone. It is
in a field which is pursued largely for the benefit
of others and not for self; success in a profession
is measured mostly by the contribution to society
rather than in terms of financial returns alone.12
It should be apparent that the definition of pro
fessionalism as suggested in these efforts is little more
than a suggestion of some of its major characteristics.
Yet it seems that the estate of professionalism must com
prise more than the mere accumulation of minimal identify-
able lineaments. Greenwood suggests a quest for something
more than traits when identifying professionalism as:
An organized group which is constantly interacting
with the society that forms its matrix, which per
forms its social functions through a network of formal
and informal relationships, and which creates its
own subculture requiring adjustments to it as a pre
requisite for career success*13
llUnited States Bureau of the Census, "Classified
Index of Occupations," p. 2.
^^The Management Dictionary (New York: Exposition
press, 19^2), p. 25b.
l^Emest Greenwood, "Attributes of a Profession,"
Journal of Social Work. 2:i|5-55. July, 1957.
This cursory examination of definitions lends
support to the argument that there is no available, I
acceptable, authoritative definition of professionalism.
Such as do exist leave the researcher in doubt as to the
actual dimensions and substance of the institution and
how it differs from the occupations# Perhaps, as with
many social concepts, it lends itself more to description
than definition. Such examination will be attempted in
the following chapter#
II. HISTORICAL APPROACH TO PROFESSIOHALISM
Further light can be shed upon the definition of
professionalism through an examination of its history and
development# If it possesses theoretical and conceptual
qualities that delineate it from other occupational
activity it should be traceable in its historical develop
ment. Such study is not easily accomplished. It requires
an examination of such recorded history as exists plus
the ability to reflect upon the unrecorded, the folklore,
tradition, even the mythical elements of our social back
ground#
Pre-literate history# Our earliest progenitors,
even pre-historic, reflect evidence of professional needs
and professional services. There is no question that many
of the needs identifiable in present day social existence
20
were equally evident In the earliest experiences of man.
The problems attendant to social group existence are not
unique to this more sophisticated era. Government and .
law were required, land and goods were held and bartered '
and physical wants were evident. '
Early recorded history. The earliest recorded
history of professionalism, admittedly vague and misty,
is found in the middle ages. The twelfth and thirteenth
centuries mark the beginning point of our contemporary
professions.^^ History reflects a state of complete church
domination including control of training institutions,
entry and practice. The earliest phases of certain voca
tions, which have grown into professions, were as a con
sequence passed within the church. Education was so
closely bound up with ecclesiastical functions that the
priest and the teacher were distinguished with difficulty.
Lawyers, physicians, and civil servants were members of
the ecclesiastical order who had assumed special func-
1^
tions.
Lewis and Angus, in discussing the history of
professionalism, suggest a second early stimulus to
• M. Carr-Saunders and P. A. Wilson, The Pro
fessions (Oxford, England: The Clarendon Press] 1933)>
28 9.“
^^Ibid., p. 290.
21
professional growth. This was the professional develop
ment that stemmed from the introduction of fee-taking
16
after the twelfth century. This practice resulted in a
^ stimulation of competition, an expansion of currency, and
! the opening of increasing non-ecclesiastic elements of
society. In the period proceeding the reformation and
ultimate industrial revolution the power and monopolistic
authority of the church declined while private enterprise
began to take on new proportions*
This decline of church authority, and the feudal
state, was matched by a growth in the common court within
which the profession of law set its early roots in an
atmosphere of legal complexity which was fundamentally
17
, self made. The era surrounding the Reformation wit
nessed reconstruction of the church that left little time
for professional activity. Similarly, in a governmental
context that embraced a basic philosophy that ignorance
was a barrier to rebellion it was not unusual that the
■ professions fell increasingly within the control of the
18
private sector* This private sector represented an
■ eager and expanding power within society*
’ * ‘ °Roy Lewis and Angus Maude, Professional People
(London: Phoenix House, Ltd., 1952), p. llj.,
. p. 19..
22
Professionalism since the Industrial Revolution.
History records that the early growth of professionalism
in training and practice was on the European continent.
Not until the eighteenth century did England assume a
commanding leadership* Prior to this time England was
recognized more as a training point for quacks and charla
tans. Several factors contributed towards the advent of
English superiority reflected in the eighteenth century.
One was its leadership in the development of capitalism.
This lead to an accompanying rise in engineering. Further,
the climate was attractive, a strong legal system existed,
the church had advocated freedom of choice in activity,
feudal bondage had been broken and an adequate social
communication fostered interest in new activity.
The birth of science opened the industrial revolu
tion and the rise of engineering skills opened the era of
modern professionalism. Oarr-Saunders and Wilson expressed
it in these words:
The rise of new professions based upon intellectual
techniques is due to the revolution brought about
by the work of the engineers and thus indirectly to
the coming of science,19
The attendent development of large scale industrial
organization resulted in the creation of a need for much,
if not all, professional growth. The resultant private
19carr-Saunders and Wilson, op. cit., p. 297.
23
enterprise and the factor of individual choice permitted
the development of the galaxy of professional enterprises
now found in our social system.
The nineteenth century witnessed great change in
the professions through the influence of the industrial
revolution. Many of the old and accepted professional
activities fell into decay while at the same time the
dawn was breaking upon the vast professional changes that
were to be evidenced in the twentieth century. Medicine,
which had for centuries lagged behind the other profes
sions began to close its ranks and to develop some of the
characteristics of professional stature. Engineering and
law held the leadership.
Professionalism in the twentieth century. The
twentieth century witnessed the introduction of social
science into professionalism. As a result many of the
professions were modified; law with psychology, medicine
by a vast array of aids; nursing by the influence of
social work. Numerous new professions and sub-professions
were seen to develop.
The period around the turn of the century was
marked, as well, by an increasing influence of state
authority. Government made its dominance felt through
both regulatory authority over established professions
and through the employment of increasing numbers of
24
professional people in the government process. Many of
government*a activities, particularly in the social
sciences, lead to the establishment of professional or
semi-professional activities. Corrections is an example
of this development.
At the present time, several real influences are
observed upon the professions. First is the growing
emphasis of science upon the applications of social insti
tutions and activities. This has resulted, and will doubt
less continue to result, in a considerable influence upon
all professions both scientific and non-scientific.
Society is witnessing a continued growth in the applica
tion of the social sciences. Here again further growth
and development should be evidenced particularly in the
light of world struggle for the loyalty of men in a
divided world. There is evidence of a gradual degenera
tion of many of the time-honored professions in the pur
suit of monetary reward, status, and security. The devel
opment of competitive elements has been particularly evi
dent in the professions of music and acting. Suspicion
of desire for material wealth over calling to serve is
growing particularly in the profession of medicine,
III, SIJMMâRï
It is apparent that severe handicaps face efforts
25
to define professionalism. In the first place, it is
suggested that professionalism reflects too vague a term
to be clearly defined. Moreover strong argument prevails
that professionalism is a mere facade behind which social ;
groups can capture material wealth, social status, and '
collective power. Tremendous growth and change in occupa
tional activity in recent decades has necessitated an
almost complete overhaul of society’s professional con
cepts, It is apparent that no clear definition of pro
fessionalism exists in terms of modern occupational cul
ture ,
History reflects that professions are founded on
social need. Conceived in the middle ages, most of the
traditional professions came to fruition following the
industrial revolution. The twentieth century has witnessed
the birth of countless new occupations many striving to
achieve the stature of the traditional callings. Over
all, and particularly with the traditional professions,
a growing suspicion exists that materialistic motivations
prevail. The student is left with an uneasiness that true
professionalism is more mythical than real; that the
**calling** is to wealth, not service.
CHAPTER IV
THE CRITERIA OP PROFESSIONALISM
I. INTRODUCTION
It has been indicated that professionalism does
not lend itself readily to definition. Additionally,
examination, to this point, has suggested that profession
alism is a fraudulent estate. In this chapter attention
will be given to the substance of professionalism. It
will become evident that arguments to the effect profes
sionalism is an abstraction, or a facade of legitimacy
and social concern to hide evil elements, are founded
upon ignorance of the facts or concentration upon isolated
incidents of professional malconduct, or the misuse of
the estate of professionalism.
Authorities on the subject generally agree that
professionalism is fundamentally a state of occupational
superiority. The professions are those activities that
most closely reflect the attributes of occupational super
iority, The basic difference between the profession and
the occupation is quantitative rather than qualitative.
No characteristic of the professions is foreign to the
occupations, Carr-Saunders and Wilson, in their discussicn
of the professions, state:
26
27
The acknowledged professions exhibit all or most of
these features; they stand at the center, and all
around them on all sides are grouped vocations
exhibiting some but not all of these features,^
It is recognized that concrete, measurable profes
sional substance as against abstract, vague, intangibles ]
I
is needed before one can intelligently, and objectively,
identify tdie existence of professionalism.
Yet even in this effort a certain confusion exists.
Where and by what authority is the fine tolerance between
the profession, the sub-profession and the occupation
drawn? What arbitrary authority selects the qualities of
professionalism and what is the relative importance of
each? Finally, realizing that the degree of any of the
characteristics of professionalism is not fixed, by
what method does the researcher determine the relative
importance of such characteristics as are recognized and
observed in any occupation under study?
Whereas a dearth of material is available on the
empirical definition of the term, authorities abound on
its substance. The problem is made difficult, however,
in the varying opinions that are found to exist. Moreover,
the spectrum of characteristics varies from the mere
existence of full time, paid activity to a veritable gal
axy of qualities.
M. Carr-Saunders and P, A. Wilson, The Profes
sions (Oxford, England: The Clarendon Press, 1933)> p.284.
28
Examination and analysis in this research has re
sulted in the reduction of these characteristics to four
fundamental qualities:
1, The existence of an intellectually oriented
activity.
2. The existence of the ability to influence
society.
3* The existence of a sub-culture,
4* The existence of a social as vs. a commercial
orientation.
Each will be considered in detail,
II. INTELLECTUAL ORIENTATION
A profession is essentially an intellectually
structured activity. The existence of intellectual sub
stance is reflected in its theoretical orientation, its
demand for special competence, its degree of intellectual
achievement, the existence of a communicable body of
I knowledge and the need, in professional existence, to
I pursue continual intellectual achievement,
' The argument that professionalism is basically
i
: intellectual in character does not disallow the presence
i of physical elements or even of physical achievements.
These are aptly reflected in the surgeon’s skill with the
scalpel and the engineer’s grasp of physical forces.
29
Nonetheless, the emphasis, in professional activity, is
on mental as against physical applications. Professional
work emphasizes such intellectual techniques as defining
problems, searching for relevent data and formulating
2
possible solutions# Whereas the emphasis in other occu
pations is to create, to accomplish, to profit, the pro
fessional is a thinker and one who assumes responsibility
for his role. * * Intellectuality with consequent personal
responsibility [can] be regarded as one criterion of a
profession,”^
Every profession reflects the possession of a
systematic body of theory. No profession can exist with
out such theoretical foundation. No professional practi
tioner exists without both complete grasp of theoretical
meaning and theoretical content.
The existence of such theoretical orientation
clearly separates the profession from other occupational
activity. One recognizes, even if unable to comprehend,
the existence of a theory of medicine, or law or engineer
ing. On the other hand, one does not think in terms of
the existence of a theory of truck driving, or machine
^Ibld.. p. 2.
^Abraham Plexner, "Is Social Work a Profession?"
Studies in Social Work (New York: New York School of
Philanthropy, 19l5), p. 5.
30
h
operating or dry cleaning. The reason is simply that the
latter activities are practice-oriented rather than of a
theoretical orientation as are the professions.
A profession reflects a systematic body of knowl
edge. Plexner refers to it as an educationally communi
cable technique.^ He makes the point that this technique
represents an orderly educational discipline and one that
is capable of communicating highly specialized data and
information. In a recognized profession, according to
Plexner, the members are in agreement to the specific
objects that the profession seeks to fulfill and the
specific kinds of skill that the practitioner of the pro-
fession must master.
It is not the purpose here to enter into a discus
sion of professionalism and the educational process.
Such a discussion will be undertaken under ’ ’Cultural
Aspects of Professionalism.” Nevertheless, in consider
ing the factor of organized knowledge and its role in pro
fessionalism, the educational processes cannot be entirely
overlooked. Professionalism must be considered in terms
^See Ernest Greenwood, ”Attributes of a Profession”
Journal of Social Work. 2:45-55, July, 1957# for a thorouji
discussion of this aspect of professionalism.
^Plexner, op. cit.. p. 13.
^Ibld,. p. 5.
31
of its practitioners and its schools*' Lewis and Angus
argue that it is education which makes a profession pos-
R
sible. The educational process and the practitioner
cannot be considered separately in any discussion of pro
fessionalism. They and the body of knowledge they share
and promote are inter-related and inter-dependent.
There can be little question that no profession
exists without a communicable body of recognized and
accepted knowledge shared by the practitioners of the
occupational activity. It follows that the existence of
professionalism reflects as well special competence
stemming from the command of the organized knowledge of
a basically theoretical, intellectual oriented, occupa
tional activity.
Carr-Saunder and Wilson put it in these words:
"It has emerged that special competence, acquired as the
result of intellectual training is the chief distinguish
ing feature of the professions.”^
Plexner approaches the same concept in a somewhat
^For a further discussion of professionalism and
the educational process the reader is directed to Educa
tion for Professional Responsibility. A Report of the
Proceedings of the Inter-Professional Conference (Buck
Hills Falls, Penn.: Carnegie Press, 1946).
®Roy Lewis and Angus Maude, Professional People
(London: Phoenix House, Ltd., 1952), p. 37.
Q 1
^Carr-Saunders and Wilson, op. cit., p. 307.
32
different way but to the same general conclusion:
Professions would fall short of attaining intellec
tuality if they employed mainly or even largely
knowledge and experience that is generally accessible
— if they drew, that is, only on the usually avail
able sources of information.lO
A distinct characteristic of professionalism then
is the ability to perform as a result of the command of
the knowledge of the activity, knowledge unique and gen
erally unshared with other elements of the work universe.
This ability to perform is the substance of the
practitioner role. This necessary life line of profes
sionalism is expressed well by Arment rout in these words:
The emphasis is on application, integration, intsr-
pretation--a sense of social responsibility and ser
vice— an ability to bring about desirable changes
in human behavior. The chief concern of the practi
tioner is to make things work— cure the pa tient-
defend the client, market the goods, build the
bridge, minister to the needy, teach the learner,
administer the school, supervise the teacher.3-1
Professionalism is the application of an intellec
tual technique, acquired as a result of prolonged and
specialized training, to the ordinary business of life.
Lieberman makes the point that there must be substantial
agreement among practitioners as to the function of
^Opxexner, op. cit.. p. 6.
D. Armentrout, "Is College Teaching a Profes
sion?” School and Society. 735373-75, June, 1951•
^^Carr-Saunders and Wilson, op. cit., p. 491.
33
131
I occupational groups before professionalism can be attained:
Similarly, there must be agreement as to the skills and
I
I methods and other elements of the knowledge of a profes
sion in order it be sustained* ^
I The ability to perform is intrinsically inter- j
related with the professional practitioner’s pride in I
I
: his ability to perform and to perform well. No profession!
I
can exist without the existence of this professional atti-
; tude. The surgeon who delicately and exhaustively restores
' the face of a charity patient stands in contrast to the j
restaurateur who seats and serves his customers in rela- |
I
I tionship to their apparent wealth or influence* The |
! court appointed attorney who defends his client with all
i ' !
the vigor and ability at his command contrasts unmistak- I
; i
' ably with the salesperson who pursues the sale in pro-
portion to its size. i
The professional attitude is reflected in ways
I other than in the practitioner’s feelings about his work.
I
: It eiËbraces as well a set of feelings about himself. His
I
1 total demeanor is influenced by his professional role and
I * I
station. In essence, he is never completely divorced from
' I
!
I his work, and his position in the social order accompaniesj
I him no matter where his activities take him.
^^Myron Lieberman, Education as a Profession
(New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1956).
34 j
This attitude is not necessarily reflecting a state
of snobbery or irrational superiority. Rather it is a
' natural configuration of the professional. He is aware
of his role, its importance and its demands upon him.
Since he is a professional person he accepts the demands, '
the restraints, and the dictates of his profession upon |
his conduct.
I
III. ABILITY TO INFLUENCE SOCIETY '
i
The second major characteristic of a profession
is found in its ability to influence the society of which
l4 !
, it is a part. This ability can be evidenced in a num- '
!
■ ber of ways and the degree to which this influence is
existent measures the extent of the professional develop- ;
ment of the activity.
Discussion at this point will examine some of the
. more outstanding examples of social influence exhibited
in a professional activity.
The primary influence of a profession upon society
f is that it fills a social need. Plexner argues that '
: l5 '
' professions are practical things. Yet professionalism
must be more than simply practical. Han, even in his
more primitive states, leams quickly to fulfill his
^^Plexner, loc. cit.
35 .
I
fundamental, practical needs such as food, shelter and '
clothing. It is in critical situations that he finds
himself in need of special help, help from one who has
undertaken special training so as to know how to perform
in particular critical situations. Hence the professional
is identifyable as one possessing the ability to perform
special services to society in critical situations where
ordinary knowledge is not adequate to the task*
It is here that the fundamental source of prestige
is found in society’s regard for the professions. One
might reasonably assume that this regard, or prestige,
relates to the importance of the service given. This is
not always so. Realizing that what is of importance is
a reflection of social attitudes changed almost daily
by fad, whim and emotion, as well as by highly developed
commercial forces we find ourselves in an almost impossible
maze in attempting to determine the social significance
of any activity in terms of public opinion. Hence such
determination must be sought by other means.
The ability to fulfill a special social need gives,
to the profession, a broad range of autonomy for both the
1 7
practitioner and for the group as a whole. The
In the case of the occupational activity under
examination in this study, corrections, examination will
be made in terms of total social impact.
1 7
'Lieberman, loc. cit.
36 :
profession and the individuals engaged in its practice
have liberty to exercise their own judgment. The scope
of professional autonomy refers to the range of decisions
and actions which are left to the discretion of the pro-
18 i
; fessional group. j
Three elements are being considered here, inter
related yet independent. They are the freedom to make ‘
judgment, to make decisions based on that judgment, and
the ability to take independent action. In the more tradi
tional callings all are evident. In medicine, for example,
the physician diagnoses his patient’s ailment, decides
his treatment and administers the same without regard to
the opinion of others or to outside interference. At j
I
the opposite extreme of the occupational scale are found
activities where none of these elements are present. The
observation that without the power of independent judgment
professionalism cannot exist, while accurate, is incom
plete. Professionalism exists only where the practitioner
has the right, within the dictates of necessary law and
professional codes of conduct, to exercise judgment, to
decide upon a course of action and to act.
I I
The autonomy enjoyed by a professional activity
I
leads to the existence of monopolistic conditions. Carr-
Saunders and Wilson observed that professional monopoly.
37 ;
whether whole or partial, and whether achieved with or
without the intervention of the state, is based upon the ■
possession of specialized techniques.Monopolistic
conditions are further supported by society’s emotional
dependence upon the activity. Such dependence permits I
!
the assumption of an increasing scope of authority by a |
I
given field with attendent increased dependency by
society upon the profession. This is characteristic of |
much of the growth observed in various professions and to
a considerable extent in many of society’s sub-professions
and even occupations. It may offer further explanation '
for the accusation that professionalism has become an I
; empty symbol.
 measure of professionalism is reflected in
society’s acceptance of the authority of an occupational
activity. Ezell maintains that where the wisdom and
judgment of an occupational activity are accepted because
of the accepted authority of the activity true profession-
I
I alism exists. Where the testimony of an occupational
, I
group is rejected, severely challenged or ridiculed,
20 I
there cannot be a state of true professionalism evident.
arr-Saunders and Wilson, op. cit.. p. 36g.
^^Stiles D. Ezell, ’ ’What Are the Oharacteristics
of a Profession?" The School Executive. 74:68-70, Movembei;
1954.
38
The importance of the authority role of the pro
fessions cannot be emphasized too strongly. Our demo
cratic social culture is built upon principles of self
rule. The founders of this nation envisioned a society
where the common man would find within himself the wisdom ;
and knowledge with which to guide his own destiny. Yet
increasingly the layman turns to the professional man
for assistance in the solving of his problems, the ful- i
fillment of his needs, the direction of his destiny. ;
Russell has made a strong argument that the ultimate con
trolling power in many areas of social activity are the
professional groups. He makes the further point that the ,
general public, which should have the ultimate control of
technical enterprises, can operate with wisdom if it has
faith in the competence of the expert. And his faith
comes with recognition of that expert not as an isolated
pn
individual but as a member of a profession.
This observation speaks for the need for internal
control in the professions and for the need, although
Russell does not press the point, that professionalism
be more than an abstract and intangible entity. If
society is to surrender increasing authority to the
^^William P. Russell, "What Criteria Must the
profession Meet?" The School Executive. 74*63-66, Novembe];
1954#
39
professions, as seemingly it is prone to do, it seems
almost axiomatic that the construct and ideology, the
philosophy and methodology of this institution be identi
fied. Yet society seems disposed to grant professional !
status to more and more activities while at the same time |
submitting more and more to the will and authority of these
22
groups.
It inevitably follows that when an occupational
I
activity has attained an authority role it finds itself ‘
enjoying an ability to influence and in fact alter, re
direct and change public thinking, beliefs, actions as
well as social conduct.
No occupation can become a profession or remain a
profession unless it is able to attract and hold able
youth in its ranks. Unless those who enter an occupation
surpass those who are engaged therein no advance is ob
served, A profession must so influence society that
it causes the finest of its young people to pursue it as
a life’s work. Absence of such ability to influence not
only reflects a lack of status and prestige but ultimately
^^his is an aspect of the analysis perhaps best
dealt with by Erich Fromm. Escape From Freedom (New York;
Rinehart and Co, Ltd., IÇ^lTI
¥. Bauer, "How Medicine Became a Profession,"
The Journal of Teachers Education, 6;2o6-ll, March, 1955.
ko
causes decline of the activity from the high plane of
professionalism. A measure of a profession then is sug
gested in both the quantity and quality of youthful candi
dates to its ranks and the quality of these candidates.
It has been observed that the professions are fund
amentally intellectual oriented activities. As such
they are the parent of change not only in their own sphere
but to all of the other occupations. New achievements i
throu^ science constantly change the things we make and
the methods we use to make them. The industrial revolu
tion, the age of the atom, automation, are the result of
the advancements brought about by the intellectual
creativity of the professions. Additionally, the advance
ment and development of the professions has made itself |
felt on other occupational activity through the creation
of necessary sub-professions which have developed to
fill a need not previously felt.
Discussion germane to the support of the second
hallmark of professionalism, that it enjoys the ability
to influence society, is almost endless. These points
seem crucial. The overall influence of the professions
is increasing at a constant rate. The lay man is becom
ing more and more dependent upon the professions for his
maintenance, his protection and his support. At the
same time, he is finding himself increasingly ignorant
lu
about the activities that so effect his life.
IV. THE EXISTENCE OP A SUB-CULTURE
True professional groups reflect sub-cultures.
Professions can be said to exist only where the practl-
I
tioners come together in free association. Desire to i
associate and ability to do so are the pre-requisites of
professionalism. Mere intellectual-and social intercourse
is not of itself adequate evidence of group affinity
appropos professionalism, however. There must exist a
compelling force drawing the members of a profession to
gether into a complete cultural grouping. Such groupings .
exhibit their own traditions, mores, rules and codes. In
addition, there is shared among all an urgent desire for
group status and achievement. As Lieberman explains it;
The experience of the established professions clearly
indicates that occupational groups do not achieve
professional status until the members of the groups
concerned participate en masse in the movement to
achieve professional status*^4
To the achievement of the ultimate of occupational
goals, professionalism, a group must have not only motiva
tion, Individual and collective, but the discipline which
is a part of any cultural grouping. The existence of
discipline is one of the prime necessities of any profes
sion. Without it no profession can be said to exist.
^Lieberman, op. cit., p. vii.
42
This discipline is enforced, of necessity, by the profes- ;
sional culture. Ezell, in his forceful discussion of the
characteristics of professionalism makes the point in these
words :
Essentially a profession has to remain a cohesive
force and it must often drive a hard bargain in its
own ranks if it is to meet the requirements of a
profession in the estimation of its most severe
critic, the general public,25 |
The existence of a necessary cultural structure is
evidenced in other than motivation, cohesiveness and
discipline. These cultures also reflect such character
istics as the ability to control membership, the existence
of organizations, the existence of codes of ethics, a
professional attitude, the existence of loyalty and
allegiance on the part of members of the professional cul
ture and the ability to establish standards of performance.
These require individual examination.
The practitioners of a profession, regardless of
its function, will control entry into the profession.
One of the characteristic features of a profession is
that it maintains strict control over entry into the
group. The absence of authority over the selection pro
cess represents a serious impediment to full professional
^Ezell, op. cit.. p. 44*
26
Lieberman, op. cit.. p. 90*
43'
stature. Conversely the degree of authority, the influence
and control enjoyed by any activity over entrance reflects
the degree of its professional stature. This control can
be found at any one of a number of stages in the entry
process. It can be reflected in complete authority in the
selection of candidates for training or, as Lieberman
maintains, it can be reflected in the right to maintain
control over the qualifications for entry and the right to
27
expel. This would suggest that only professions in the
private sector of society are capable of such achievement
and that any activity within a political or governmental
sector is automatically disqualified. Such conclusion
must be tempered with an examination of the facts. Almost;
all of the professions require government sanction and
realize governmental or legal interference. Hence the
control of entry, at least through the licensing process,
be it the Board of Medical Examiners, the Bar, accredita
tion to teaoh, and so forth, is within the purview of
appropriate governmental activity. In essence, the
profession’s ability to control selection is subject to
its ability to influence or control the governmental
forces involved.
Admission to a profession is almost without
. p. 87.
44
exception through an accredited professional school*
In a true profession the relationship existing between
the training institution and the professional activity is
a very tangible thing. It is such a relationship as to
demand a continuous interaction. Both practitioner and
institution are inter-dependent. In the words of Bauer:
The heart of a profession is its educational system.
For the perpetuation of your profession you require
training institutions, whose standards you are con- '
stantly endeavoring to elevate*28
There exists a responsibility upon the part of
the practitioner to participate with the training institu
tion towards the development of ever-increasing knowledge
and skill and the development of increasingly superior
candidates for the profession. Similarly the school holds,
the responsibility of recruiting students, training
competently, inculcating the student with necessary knowl
edge and techniques with which he must be equipped to
function, and graduating only those who prove their com
petence.^^ Lloyd E. Blauch pursues the importance of the
position of the school pointing up that it is the school
that collects professional knowledge, that unites the
pA
Bauer, loo, cit.
^9see Lloyd E. Blauch, Education for the Profes
sions (U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare;
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1955) for
a complete and thorough discussion of the professional
practitioner*
45 ;
profession’s universe of knowledge, that develops methods ,
whereby the skills and knowledge are applied to the stu
dent, that weeds out the incompetent and creates within
the qualified the ability to think and act and perform as
a professional. In his own words: '
The professional school is then a center of light
and learning whose inspiration reaches the farthest
recesses of the profession; it holds aloft the high
est professional standards, continually infuses the
profession with a fresh dynamic, and constantly re
news its personnel.30
It has been previously pointed out that profes
sionalism is possible only where the practitioner commands
talents, skills and techniques not ordinarily accessable.
Accordingly, one must establish the level of professional
preparation at the minimal level that such is possible.
There exist varying opinions as to what level of pre
training is considered minimal. College graduation is
universally agreed to and by and large authorities attest
to the need for a period of graduate work to acquire the
specialized knowledge needed to function in a professional
setting. Some identify the graduate school as the pro
fessional school and argue that a clear relationship exists
between professionalism and the graduate training
experience. In terms of this facet of professionalism
this appears a défendable position. However, there are
other elements to professionalism that must be considered
30ibid.
46
before judgment is made. That is to say that while pro
fessionalism may exist only where adequate preparation
is evident, training in and of itself does not evidence a
state of professionalism.
A characteristic of all culture is the tendency to
affiliate into organizations. Man is gregarious and seeks
his own reflection in his inter-personal relationships be
they social or intellectual. This tendency causes society
to develop into a miriad of groups. The mere fact that
professional people tend to gather together is not of it
self unique. It is the purpose of such association that
is important. The professional organization is basically
established to maintain and to improve technique, to in
spire its membership, to further its learning, to review
and to set its standards, to discipline its membership,
to establish codes and to see to their application, to
maintain methods of communicating with society and other
activities. It is not suggested that the professional
organization differs fundamentally from other occupational
groups. The difference is found in the broad scope of
organizational purpose and in the social as versus the
selfish orientation exhibited in most professional organi
zation. Lewis and Maude argue that professional organiza
tions differ from unionism in that the latter are basical
ly dedicated to the benefits of their own particular
47
membership and without principle concern for other social
31
groupings or society as a whole.Similarly the ancient ,
guilds strove to improve technique, to improve craftsman
ship, and perpetuate monopoly. Most other of societies
groups have a singular, fundamental, purpose or a purpose !
I
that is basically self-centered; social intercourse,
political influence and domination, entertainment or the
like .
The fundamental purpose of the professional organ
ization can be said to be discipline of its own member
ship. Lieberman identifies it as comprehensive self-gov
erning organization of practitioners. He identifies the
need for such organizations within a context of discipline*
by pointing up that in the absence of an organization
which can enforce professional standards among the prac
titioners each practitioner would soon be a law unto
himself.Conversely there are those who attest that the
fundamental purpose of any profession is to gain mono
polistic control in a society which by tradition and by
law prohibits such monpolistic conditions argue that the
supposed self-discipline qualities of the professional
organization are nothing more than a subtrafuge and that
31
Lewis and Maude, loc. cit.
^^Lieberman, op. cit., p. 5*
48
behind the facade of social concern the real and hidden
purpose continues to function moving the activity towards
its real goals of influence, power and control
It is not felt that from the evidence thus far be
fore us any such negative conclusion can be drawn. Al
though there is every evidence that a degree of selfish
interest exists in every profession and that it is cer
tainly promulgated by and through the organization this
organization also stands as a living and working symbol
of the practitioner’s realization of the importance of
his activity and its need to further itself and discipline
itself in deference to its social involvement. The
I
organization must become the instrument whereby the mem
bers of the profession come together for the accomplish
ment of those functions that identify and cause its pro
fessional construct. It is not enough that mere tech
nique exist, or that practitioners possess the skill to
apply it, or that it is being applied, to affect profes
sionalism. There must be a cultural construct and this
culture must be acted out in very real ways through,
among other manifestations, professional organizations.
Garr-Saunders and Wilson address themselves to this
33gee A. p. Richardson, The Ethics of a Profession
York: American Institution Publishing Go., 1931)^
for a thorough discussion of professional ethics.
49
general thought in these words :
a technique may exist and men may practice it,
and yet there may be no profession. Just as a
number of families in primitive society do not form
a state, so a number of men, though they perform
similar functions, do not make a profession if they
remain in isolation. A profession can only be said
to exist when there are bonds between the practi
tioners, and these bonds can take but one shape, that
of formal associations.34
A further evidence of cultural development and,
inter-related with organizations, is the existence of
codes of ethic in the professions.
It is the opportunity presented by society’s sub
mission to the professions that initiates the development
of codes. King, in his discussion of ethics as found in
profession and business put it in these words:
Codés of ethics are important agencies for social
control. The complexities and the specializations
of modern industrial life leave many individuals un
able to judge whether or not a member of any pro
fession has performed his services with due regard
to the interests of his client. In all but the
grossest and most obvious defaults in service stand
ards the work of the physician must be judged by
physicians and that of the lawyer by lawyers. And
so with each of the professions. The higher the
skill, the greater the need for organized group effort
towards maintaining a fine sense of obligations, not
primarily to others in the same profession, but mainly
to the general well being of all.35
Codes of ethics are a normal outgrowth of
34^arr-Saunders and Wilson, op. cit., p. 2Ç8.
3^Clyde L. King, **The Ethics of the Professions
and of Business,*^ The American Academy of Political and
Social Sciences (Philadelphia: The Academy, 1922)”» p. 7.
50
professional organizations. Moreover they are reflective
of socially oriented occupational culture. The acceptance
and support of imposed control by an occupational group
correlates with the degree of professionalism existent*
The ethical codes of an occupational activity are no mere j
casual accumulation of process or hastily compiled does ]
and dont8. They represent not only the resultant effort
of the group to establish rules and codes but the group
itself. A system of ethics is not to be improvised. It is
the task of the very group to which they are to apply.
When they fail, it is because the cohesion of the group
is at fault. It is because the group’s existence is too
shadowy and in too rudimentary a state, and its ethics
n A
show its lack of integration. Herein rests one of the
basic measurements of professionalism and one that lends
itself to relatively accurate assessment. In the words
of Bauer, ’ ’The emergence of an ethical code marks the be
ginning of a profession.”37
Greenwood in his discussion of the criteria of pro
fessionalism makes the point that the professions, unlike
the commercial sector, enjoys a situation wherein the
client is subordinate to the practitioner and subject to
3^’ Emile Durkheim, Professional Ethics and Civic
Morals (Glencoe, Illinois! Free Press, n.d.), p. 13*
3?Bauer, op. cit.. p. 207.
51
38
his judgment and often to his dictate."^ This authority,
and the opportunity it presents for manipulation for per- !
j
sonal and selfish interests and gratifications, initiates '
I
action towards clearly defined codes of ethics* This is '
not to suggest that the display of ethical codes, by a
professional group, is reflective of purely altruistic
intent or that professionalism represents such an honorable
estate that chicanery is foreign to the nature of its per
sonnel. There is unquestionably an element of self-
survival evident in the realization that no institution
of society continues to exist except with the sanction
of society. This sanction is not appreciated except in
those situations where it is not abused. It has been
observed that a quality of professionalism is its degree
of autonomy coupled with self-governing elements. This
gift, and gift it must be recognized to be, is not ex
tended by society except where society believes a clearly
defined inner discipline is existent.
Hence irrespective of motivation, be it altruistic
or self-preservation, or both, it is felt that the adop
tion, general observance, and enforcement, where required,
of a professional code of ethics are basic characteristics
of all professions.^^
3^Greenwood, loc. cit.
39Albert J. Huggett and T. M. Stinnett, Professional
Problems of Teachers (Hew York: The Macmillan Co., 195b),
p. 245.
52
Accepting then that an occupational activity that
enjoys authority and autonomy must be internally con
trolled and directed, what comprises this state of dis
cipline? Richardson reduces it to simple terms and sug
gests that ethical codes simply reflect a state of cul
tural development in these words:
It is a tradition of the professions that all who
practice them must be gentlemen and ladies. They
must be people of education, refinement and that
delicate, indescribable knowledge of what is proper
which is called tact. They must be people to whom
right is as natural as breathing. And above all they
must be strong, steadfast, sure.4 0
In qualifying the self-regulatory aspect of pro
fessional structure in his discussion of professionalism.
Greenwood gives a more sophisticated insight into this
element in this observation:
\
Self-regulatory codes are characteristic of all occu
pations, non-professional and professional. How
ever, a professional code is perhaps more explicit,
systematic and binding; it certainly possesses more
altruistic overtones and is more public service
oriented. 41
While these observations of ethical codes are
certainly helpful a perhaps more thorough and exacting
explanation is given by Lieberman in these words:
They provide the basis for distinguishing scrupulous
from unscrupulous professional conduct. They help
orient the newly initiated practitioner into his
professional obligations, rights and privileges.
4%ichardson, op. cit., p. 1$0.
41
Greenwood, op. cit.. p. 50.
53
They serve as the basis for professional etiquette,
that is, for regulating the conduct between the prac
titioners as well as between practitioners and
clients. They provide the professionals with basis
for excluding the incompetent or unscrupulous or
defending the practitioner who is unjustly attacked.
They also serve as a guide to lay persons for under
standing professional conduct.42
As is implied in the term the ethical codes of a
profession, or any social activity, reflect the basic
moral context as well as the exacted conduct of the activ
ity. A true professional activity will reflect both ethi
cal context and codes of behavior. Leiberman enumerates
some of the specific criteria of ethical codes as these:
1. They reflect clarity.
2. They are directed at efficient service.
3. They reflect a common policy applicable to
everyone in the profession.
4* They do not deal with the irrelevant but only
with matters of professional conduct.
5* They anticipate the need for disciplinary
action.
6. They protect the practitioner from abuse
initiated from other factors than malpractice,
client influence, monetary status, etc.
7. They are complete and cover every important
problem attendent to the'practice of the profession.
8. They keep control of the professional service
foremost at all time s.43
4^Leiberman, op. cit., p. 4l7*
43ibid,
54 ,
Landis makes the point that codes reflect con
siderable difference* Accepting that while, by definition^
the ethical code is synonymous with the standard of prac
tice, rules of professional conduct, canons of ethics, ;
principles of conduct and so forth, there is a consider- |
able variance between the applications of these codes
among occupations. Godes vary from those exacting specific
conduct in specific situations with mechanics to deal with
the violator to a simple statement, often in abstract ,
terminology, of the desired qualities of a practitioner.
In his discussion Landis argues that few of the profes
sions exhibit a code that is complete and realistic and
concrete. For the better part professional codes are a
mere statement of desired principles, with little or no
provision for their enforcement. He concludes that a
professional code should include (1) means of protection
for profession and the public; (2) an integrated profes
sional organization; (3) specific rules of conduct;
(4) specific illustrative cases rather than all blanket
definitions; (5) means for code revision; and (6)
machinery for disciplinary action.44
It is indicated that there exists within the prac
titioners, a further cultural concept, a professional
44Benson Landis, Professional Codes (New York:
Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia Univer
sity, 1927).
55
attitude. The acceptance of training, exhaustive though
it may be and submission to a code of conduct does not
in itself suggest a professional person. The professional
individual, unlike the person in other occupational
activity, is identified with his role in all situations.
Furthermore, his entire existence is involved in his
activity. He is a part of his profession and it a part
of him. There is no separation of the two. Richardson
expressed this concept in this way:
If he has pride in his calling he will treasure his
own good name and that of his profession; he will
guard against all attempts to lower the standard;
he will devote his attention to efforts at ever
loftier accomplishment and he will so conduct him
self that those who meet with him will be impressed
by his dignity, courtesy and rectitude.45
This attitude will be further reflected in the
loyalty and allegiance of the people engaged in the pro
fession. Their interests and devotions will rest in the
work they do and further they will lend every support to
the work and rise to its defense when necessary. Their
attachment will reflect more than a casual or transitory
relationship. To the contrary, they will reflect a very
real and permanent envolvement.
^^Richardson, op. cit., p. 152,
56
V. SOCIAL VERSUS COMMERCIAL ORIENTATION
Finally a profession is founded upon social as
against commercial orientations. This is suggested in
its altruistic components, its emotional neutrality, the
fact that it reflects a calling and the substance of its
practitioner-client relationship.
It has been said that the mark of a professional
is dedication to public service.The measure of success
of a professional person is not in terms of wealth but
more in terms of service and contribution to society’s
welfare. This facet of professionalism is suggested in
these words:
The obligation of the professional man is to give his
services whenever called upon, and without exercising
capricious discrimination, for example on personal
or political grounds, is very generally recognized;
though in some professions it is made more explicit
than in others.47
The professional man serves the interests of the
public, he serves society, not because he is required to
do so by law but because of his duty to respond to societyS
needs with the skills that he commands. There rests upon
the professional individual a responsibility to subordinate
his own personal considerations to those of the culture in
which he functions.
46ijj[eberman, op. cit.. p. 122.
47carr-8aunders and Wilson, op. cit., p. lj.21*
57
The existence of social orientation overtones is
not a universally accepted concept and opponents of pro
fessionalism express the belief that only those virtues
exist as are required to avoid the wrath of society.
Ezell, in his discussion of the practice of medicine,
points, with some scorn, at the historic victimization
of society by the practitioners of medicine.4® While
acknowledging there are individual cases of charlatan
behavior on the part of professional practitioners, and
that at certain points in history whole professions have
declined into quackery, this cannot overcome the over
whelming evidence that the professional man is sustained
by the satisfaction which he obtains from rendering a
service well, from gaining the esteem of his fellow pro
fessional, from living up - to the solidly established tra
dition of the little society or professional group of
which he is a member, from discharging faithfully the high
professional obligation in which he has been indoctrin-
49
ated.
The social orientation of professionalism is per
haps personified in its altruistic substance. Every
48ezo11, op. cit., p. 6 8.
49
Blauch, op. cit., p. 3.
58
profession and all professions are distinguished from
occupations by superior devotion to public service. Pew
professional people amass great fortunes at their pro- '
fession. They put other values, such as achievement,
personal growth, and contribution to their fellow man,
5o
on a higher plane than monetary remuneration. Lieberman
presents the argument that people enter into professions
for other than economic gain.^^ Such factors as status,
prestige, and emotional need, play a role in the choice to
pursue a professional career. Others suggest that the
altruistic factor in professionalism is not so much an
evidence of a superior social consciousness on the part
of professional practitioners but rather that the activity
dictates such attitudes. Altruism is more a discipline
than a quality of the individual. Carr-Saunders and
Wilson, addressing this concept stated:
Professional men are not philanthropists. They ask
for a decent living in return for the services which
they perform. But if they were called upon to give
an account of themselves, they could show that
gratuitous service is often given to those in need.52
Further argument is offered in this observation:
The motives of people in the professions are prob
ably no higher than the motives of the workers in
^^Bauer, op. cit., p. 210*
^^Lieberman, op. cit., p. 2l5.
^^Carr-Saunders, and Wilson, op. cit.. p. 471.
59
any other occupation. The point is that profes
sions are so organized and controlled that profes-
' sional workers cannot avoid certain obligations,
I regardless of their personal feelings.53
I The crucial point is, of course, that, although
i the profession is organized and disciplined, it attracts
I people to its ranks.
i It is suggested that professionalism is more than
I
a quest for riches or a chance selection of occupational
: endeavor. Professionalism is a calling. Of necessity,
' through academic requirements, if not by inclination,
the individual who pursues a given profession makes his
^ decision early and infrequently falters from his choice,
i Professionalism embodies the career concept, the desire
: to pursue a given activity not necessarily because of
I material gain but because of devotion to a particular art,
I A further suggestion of the social orientation of
the professional is evidenced in what has been identified
as emotional neutrality. Greenwood argues that the pro
fessional must provide his services without regard to age,
54
race or sex. In essence, the professional is obligated
I to render service to society as a whole or to any member
I thereof without regard to his own personal prejudices.
^^Lieberman, pp. cit., p. 4#
^4(jx.eenwood, loc. cit.
6o
preferences or beliefs. He is an instrument of society
and hence neutral in areas of ordinary social conflict.
The absence of emotional involvement is reflected
'
in other ways, while frequently found in an employer-
employee\relationship the professional is practitioner
: first and employee second. Although ordinary employer
demands must be recognized and respected, the professional
will accept no dictate from his employer that causes him
to violate his own judgment of what is necessary In the
practice of his art. Consequently the ordinary emotional
structure witnessed in employment situations is not evi
dent in the case of the professional. The professional
is subject to the administrative dictate of the organiza
tion, to the rules and regulations of the group, but in
the practice of his profession he is autonomous,55
, This state of emotional independence goes further
in the maintenance of independence by the professional in
the organizational structure. He is a skilled practi
tioner, employed to render a particular service. He does
not, ordinarily, consider himself to be a part of the
55Exception to this is observed where professional
practitioners are employed in a professional activity,
for example a hospital or dental clinic, where they are
under the dictate of other professional people who have,
as well, administrative authority. Even in these situa
tions, however, the judgment of the practitioner is gen
erally respected.
6l
organization as in the case of most employees who look
more to the organization for their livelihood and seek,
through it, a secure and rewarding ^future, Gontrarywise,
to the professional practitioner the organization can
be an enigma, vexing and annoying to him in the practice
of his science. At most, he tends to divorce himself from
it emotionally to the greatest possible extent.
In a broader sense, the professional will exercise
emotional neutrality and independence in his relationships
with the society of which he is a part, Horton, for
example, makes a strong plea for the necessity of the
teacher, as a professional person, to take pride in his
work and to conduct himself in keeping with professional
dictates, not the pressures brought to bear by the com-
56
munity,'^ In like fashion a.ll professional people must
give heed only to the demands of their art and must em
brace a degree of professional confidence that prohibits
attention to the demands of uninformed persons no matter
their position or influence. In essence, their conduct
must be in accordance with the interests of society as
expressed through the exercise of professional practice.
Perhaps the element of social orientation is best
found in the substance of the professional practitioner-
5^R. Hurley, ”How Willing Are You to Be Profes
sional?” Michigan Educational Journal, May, 1954*
62
client relationship, as witnessed in all professional
situations. The basis of professional life is the con
tract (relationship) between the practitioner and client
(or patient) an essentially ethical relationship; and that
this fiduciary and confidential relationship lies not
merely at the heart of the great professions of medicine
(and its derivatives, the medical auxiliaries, social
workers, optician and so forth), but at the heart of all
57
professions.
Garr-Saunders and Wilson expressed in these words
the relationship between the practitioner and his client:
The attitude of the professional man to his client
or his employer is painstaking and is characterized
by an admirable sense of responsibility; it is one
of pride in service given rather than of interest in
opportunity for personal profit.58
It is not to be assumed that all professional sit
uations enjoy a complete freedom in the relationship be
tween practitioner and client. In almost all there are
to be seen some elements of outside influence. Even in
the practice of medicine and law certain legal restric
tions are made; records must be kept and in certain cir
cumstances reports must be immediately filed with outside
authority. Nonetheless, to whatever extent the relation
ship between the professional and the client is hampered
5ÎLewis and Maude, op. cit., p. 262.
5®Carr-Saunders and Wilson, loc. cit.
63
or interfered with by the imposition of external authority
professionalism is reduced. '
VT. SUMMARY
An effort has been made in this chapter to examine
the substance of professionalism as reflected in its char
acteristics. It has been observed that these qualities
are not unique, being identifiable to a lesser extent or
degree, in all occupations.
The criteria of professionalism are many and con
siderable difference of opinion is reflected among experts
as to the relative importance of each. They seem to
group themselves into four major characteristics: the
existence of (1) an intellectual orientation, (2) ability
to influence society, (3) a sub-culture, and (4) a social
orientation.
CHAPTER V
EVOLUTION OP CONTEMPORARY CORRECTIONS
With the understanding thus achieved into the
nature of professionalism, attention will now be directed
to an examination of corrections in an effort to deter
mine, to the greatest possible extent, its professional
substance. This is not an easy task acknowledging that
both professionalism, as a measure of occupational
development, and corrections, as an occupational activity,
reflect little that is concrete or definitive* An under
standing of corrections, or any occupation, as it relates
itself to professionalism, is doubtless achieved more
through insight and understanding than by a declaration
of specific principles* In this atmosphere the following
examination and analysis of corrections is submitted,
I, DEFINITION
What is corrections? Barnes and Teeters refer
to it as the "new penology.”^ While unquestionably a
facet of corrections, penal treatment itself does not
reflect the entire correctional field. Corrections is an
Harry Elmer Bames and Negley K* Teeters, New
Horizons in Criminology (third edition; New Jersey;
Prentice Hall, Inc., 1959), p* 4^1*
64
65
integral part of the process of criminal justice, which
includes as well, detection and apprehension, prosecution,
conviction and finally corrections. Corrections can be
identified as an intellectual approach to the reclamation
of the offender through rehabilitative applications which
are based upon scientifically established facts. Its
basic institutions are probation, prison (or other deten
tion facilities) and parole. Its methods are controversial
but fundamentally oriented in the behavioral sciences.
Corrections reflects à movement away from the
punitive school of dealing with the offender and marks
the beginning of an era in which the offender, rather
than his crime, is the center of attention. It is the
fruition of the concept of individualized treatment
inadvertently initiated by the work of Lombroso who, ad
vancing the theory of criminality through cranium struc
ture, represented the first person to study the man rather
than his crime, Cavan identifies the basic principle of
corrections as centered upon ihe scientific approach to the
individual’s problems as reflected through criminality
and including a plan of treatment that will resolve the
2
causative factors and result in permanent cure.
Corrections is an outgrowth of man’s historic
2
Ruth Shanle Cavan, Criminology (second edition;
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1955) » p. 298.
66
struggle to resolve the problem of crime and the criminal.
Perhaps no social problem has created the confusion, the
disparity of thought and application and the controversy
as has crime and the treatment of offenders. To a very
real extent these confusions exist today both within the
field of corrections and throughout our culture.
Corrections is society’s contemporary method of
dealing with offenders in an atmosphere that verbalizes
at least, individualized rehabilitative treatment. Con
temporary practices, and ideologies find their roots
extending back into the earliest recorded practices ; prac
tices that reflected barbaric attitudes embraced by
society towards those of its membership who for one reason
or another violated the established rules of social con
duct. If nothing else, contemporary corrections symbol
izes a point of departure from society’s historic
approaches to its offender member. In this chapter an
effort will be made to enlarge upon this history and the
resultant institution of this study, corrections.
II. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
Pre-literate, To say that society witnesses today
modem practices in dealing with offenders or that it
evidences methodology as well as ideology unique to this
era is only half-truth. It has been said that nearly
6?
every element in preliterate justice has, in modified
3
form, its counterpart in current correctional systems.
To understand contemporary corrections demands an examina
tion of the history of society’s methods of dealing with
the offender.
Society’8 approach to the criminal has been, and
remains fundamentally, one of punishment. Most students
of the history of punishment have found its roots in ^
vengeance.^ Throughout recorded history are found evi
dences of criminals having been branded, mutilated, tom
limb from limb, fed to wild animals, slowly starved,
burned, exposed in pillories to the insults of passers-by,
enslaved in galleys, crucified and pressed to death,^
Barnes and Teeters point up that the earliest concepts
of crime envisioned it as the evidence of possession of
6
the person by evil spirits. Thereafter crime was ob
served as a reflection of a willful act against society
by a free moral agent. This historic concept, which
remains to this day, has resulted in the development and
^Donald R, Taft, Criminology (third edition; New
York: The Macmillan Co., 1958), p. 355.
4a. Warren Stearns, "The Evolution of Punishment,**
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, July-August, 1936.
^Taft, OP. cit.. p. 353.
"Bamea and Testers, op. cit., p. 28$.
68
retention of concepts of retaliation and retribution. '
Primitive, or pre-literate society was fundamental
ly of a tribal structure reflecting many of the character
istics of contemporary primary groups. Crime was inhibited
because of the affect of group influence upon delinquency
coupled with dependency of the individual upon the group. '
Law, in primitive society, was unwritten and the
question of crime and punishment was a matter between
individuals. The criminal responded directly to the
offended in making amends for his actions. Such might
take the form of a monetary or material settlement. The ^
right of the offended to retaliate led to the principle
of lex talionis, or an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth. Society interceded only to the extent of regulat
ing the matter of retribution.
There was a minimal interest in intent. The
important factor was the amount of the loss to the victim.
Revenge was not acceptable except to the extent of the
damage resulting from the criminal act of the offender,
Cavan points up that although modern society does not
impose a punishment that duplicates the crime the idea
of retaliation and vengeance has not disappeared from
contemporary culture,7 Examples are suggested in the
^Cavan, op, cit.. pp. 288-89.
69
exacting of the death penalty for laurder and the correla
tion that exists between the length of prison sentence
and the seriousness of the crime or the amount of material
goods taken through criminal acts*
Feudal era. The development of more highly organ
ized social orders, the feudal state and empire, coupled
with a growing stratification of society led to the in
evitable involvement of the state in the punishment of
the offender. For almost countless centuries the basic
approach to the criminal was one of corporal punishment.
During this era the concept of prison, as used today, was
unknown. Such detention as was effected was for the pur
pose of holding the offender pending trial and conviction.
Thereafter, he was subjected to all manner of abuse rang
ing from death by torture to mutilation or dismemberment.
During this period in history there was witnessed
a gradual purification of the law and the emergence of
the courts. These had little effect, however, upon the
application of punishment against the offender. In 1820
England imposed the death penalty in 222 crimes. A
French judge boasted SOO executions by burning in the
span of sixteen years. The reign of Henry VIII of
8
England witnessed the execution of 70,000 criminals*
Gibld.. p. 290.
70 ,
The basic concept that the offender represents a |
free moral agent, capable of choosing the pursuit of good |
or evil, persisted throughout this bloody era of history. |
The belief that the criminal deed represented a calculated!
act determined with full knowledge and grasp of its poten
tial effect upon both the victim and the offender led to
the rationalization that harsh punishment would serve as
justified retaliation and further would inevitably dis
suade the offender from further criminal behavior. Close ■
scrutiny of modern practices reflects that both retalia
tory practices and theory persist.
Transportation. Gradually public opinion turned
against cruel and barbaric methods of punishment. Cor
poral punishment which had long been the accepted method
of dealing with the offender gave way to more humane
practices. Briefly, society attempted to solve the crim
inal problem through transportation, the ejection of the
criminal and his banishment to distant lands. This was
not a new concept having been practiced in earliest
recorded history. The colonization of this nation was,
to a certain extent, by banished offenders, civil and
criminal. Australia as well, was partially populated by
criminals. Russia long practiced exiling to Siberia in
both criminal and political cases. Interestingly the
transportation concept continues to enjoy support and
71
popularity to this day.
I
I
Era of reform. The period following the endless j
darkness of the middle ages might well be identified as
the era of reform. The mind of man was everywhere seek
ing answers to problems of living. Life was changing, ^
institutions of long standing were coming under challenge.
Man suddenly thrust into a place of prominence was seizing
the opportunity to consider all of his institutions.
The decline of corporal punishment as the basic
means of dealing with the criminal and the failure of
banishment led to the development of the prison as a
means of punishment. Where the prison, or jail, had tradi
tionally been a holding instrument it now became consider
ed as an institution for punishing the criminal.
This renaissance of thought resulted in the gradual
decline of the theory of retaliation and the emergence of
the era of reform. Unquestionably this movement was
stimulated by the newly acquired value of man brought by
the industrial revolution and resultant concept of man as
a free entity and possessing dignity. The new concept
was first suggested by an Italian intellectual who perhaps
did more to destroy the two thousand years of recorded
atrocities against the convicted than any other human.^
^George Godwin, Criminal Man (New York: George
Brazillu, Inc., 1957), p. 75.
72
In 176I 1 . this man, Cesare Bonesana, Marche se di Beccaria,
set forth in a text, known simply as Crimes and Punishment
the fundamentals of the classic school of criminology*
These principles stand to this day, to many students of
criminal behavior and criminal treatment. Barnes and
Teeters take the position in their third revision of
New Horizons in Criminology that excepting only the modern
I
psychiatric analysis of the criminal with its substitu
tion of the conception of treatment for punishment, one
may safely say that Beccaria*s treatise envisioned the
major correctional advances made during the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries.Beccaria*s major principles
were that crime represents an injury to society, that
crime prevention is of greater importance than punishment,
that secret accusation, trial and punishment is evil,
that turning state * s evidence is tantamont to public
authorization of treachery, that the purpose of punishment
is deterrence, not revenge, that capital punishment is
irreparable and making no allowance for rectification
should be abolished and that imprisonment should be used
more wisely as a means of dealing with criminals but that
11
institutions should be improved upon. It is noteworthy
^^Barnes and Teeters, op. cit.» p. 323.
. p. 322.
73
that much of Beccaria*s thinking could be considered
progressive today, two hundred years after the publishing
of his essay. As recently as the last general election
in the Commonwealth of California, the electorate chose
to continue this practice of murder by the people for
murder by the individual. Further evidence of practices
denounced by this eighteenth century scholar is the con
temporary extensive use of criminal informants whose
testimony is bought at the price of prostituting the
entire practice of criminal justice through the legal
absolvsment of guilt.
Changing concepts in methodology in dealing with
criminals were paralleled by changing concepts in
criminology. Although the basic beliefs of the criminal
as a free moral agent and of punishment as a valid deter
rent persisted, new concepts became evident, superimposed
over the old, that reformation of the offender might be
a possibility and that efforts should be directed to this
end. Referring to this stage in the development of
social techniques of dealing with the criminal, Cavan
states that he was regarded as a rational being, who had
a choice of good or evil in his conduct and who, under
certain conditions, might choose to abandon the evil in
favor of the good for his future behavior,This is an
1P
Cavan, op. cit., p. 292.
7k
extremely insightful statement into concepts of correction
embraced in the early stages of what might be identified '
as the modem era. Many of these concepts are still
popular. The criminal is today generally regarded as a
rational being and one who possesses the ability to make
I
arbitrary decisions for criminal and non-criminal be- i
havior. Society* s methods of dealing with the offender
are constructed upon this fundamental premise. They sup
port the entire system of criminal justice. Criminal
behavior is regarded as evil. Causation for delinquency
is reduced to basic morality. There is no evidence of
knowledge, at this stage of the development, into the
dynamics of human behavior. Neither is there evidence of •
interest in such dynamics. People are simply moral or
immoral, criminal or non-criminal. The treatment for
the immoral is punishment directed at the development of
an attitude that stimulates a belief that morality is
preferable as a means, if nothing else, of escaping more
punishment.
This rational continued to dominate the next '
century and a half. To this day it permeates social
thinking, legal process and correctional methodology to
a very great extent.
The birth of the philosophy of reformation initiated
the era of corrections. While true that little early
75
methodology could be identified with today*s techniques,
the basic aim, the rehabilitation of the offender, had
been established. This was the first and most necessary
step society was to take. Not until social thinking had
developed to a point of acknowledging the need for recla
mation of the offender and the possibility of such recla- .
mation could society turn its attention to the development
of methods to achieve this end.
At this stage in the history of corrections the
question of reformation was entirely related to institu
tions. The possibility of control and treatment of the
offender in the community had not yet been considered.
Moreover not until the prisons of the day had been sub
jected to a severe overhaul, including the discontinua
is
tion of corporal punishment, the isolation of the ill,
the segregation of the sexes, adult and youthful offenders,
were these institutions identifiable as correctional
facilities. This rejuvination of prisons was accomplished
under the influence of religious leaders, reformers and
public opinion.
The Pennsylvania and Auburn systems. The earliest ,
efforts to utilize the prison as a place of reform in the
^^Not of the sort witnessed in the middle ages, the
rack, wheel, dismemberment, branding, but lesser abuses,
whipping, bread and water diet, dark cells and so forth.
76 I
I
United States were witnessed in the Pennsylvania System |
and the Auburn System, In his discussion of these two ;
approaches, Taft refers to their similarities and dis- i
similarities in these words: I
Though their relative merits were hotly debated I
they were alike in (1) opposition to communication
and (2) separation at night. Because the Pennsyl- :
vania system called for isolation in individual j
cells day and night while the Auburn provided con- !
gregate work in shops with communication forbidden,
the former is called the separate system, the latter
the silent system.Iq
These two systems were developed on the fear of
contamination. In both the prisoners were prohibited from
speaking. In the Pennsylvania system there was no possi- .
bility of communication in that the prisoner was confined
to his cell continuously. In the Auburn system the
prisoners were assigned to work activity during the day
and cells at night. The basic correctional theory was
that reformation would follow reflection and that the
prison should be designated to promote such reflection.
The modern American prison is the direct descendant
of the Auburn system with the additional bad feature of
promiscuous intermingling of the inmates.Hence, to
understand modern penology some understanding of the
Auburn system is required. This system lasted over a
^Taft, op. cit.. p. Ij.79.
^^Barnes and Teeters, op. cit.. p, 3ij.2,
77
period of approximately fifty years. The critics of the |
Auburn system argued that the element of contamination
would preclude the possibility of reform, Barnes and
Teeters, quoting Gustave de Beaumont and Alexis de
Tocqueville, the French commissioners :
Whoever has studied the interior of prisons and the
moral state of their inmates, has become convinced
that communication between these persons renders
their moral reformation impossible, and becomes even ‘
for them the inevitable cause of alarming corruption.
. . . Ho salutary system can possibly exist without
the separation of the criminal.
This argument and the intense support of the Penn
sylvania system failed to retard the growth and spread
of the Auburn system as contrasted to the Pennsylvania
system. The decline of the latter was due to three basic
factors: the cost, the limitation on using prison labor
and the tendency towards psychotic breakdown under isola
tion.^^
III. COHTBMPOBARY CORRECTIONS
Modern corrections is characterized by three
institutions, or activities: the prison, and its counter
part in detention facilities for youthful offenders,
probation and parole. Whereas the latter are inventions
of this century, the prison, as has been observed, is an
16
Ibid.
Ibid.. p. 3l),5.
17
78
ageless institution.
I
I
Penology. Prisons are the mother institution of
corrections and their influence is very real on the entire
correctional world. They stand as a reminder of possible '
failure in probation and as a conditioning stage for
parole. They represent the largest unified faction in
corrections. To a very great extent, they set the atmos
phere for corrections.
Penology for the past one hundred years has been
developed, as has been suggested, upon a theory of sub
stitution of treatment for punishment. Modern prisons
are a result of enlightened thinking and a firm convic
tion, upon the part of many, that a social reformation
is possible when the offender is exposed to appropriate
treatment techniques. Commencing with the departures
witnessed in the Pennsylvania and Auburn systems, emphasis
on punishment began to shift to emphasis on rehabilita
tion and the preparation of the prisoner for a successful
* 1 o
adjustment to the community upon return.
Early emphasis upon segregation and reflection
gave way to the introduction of individualized treatment
and attention to the individual rather than to the crime
for which the individual was convicted. In an enthusiasm
^^Gavan, op, cit., p, I}.28.
79
to find the proper treatment elements to cure the
criminal, innovation followed innovation in penal reform
and program. Classification, education, trade training,
religious instruction, farming and a multitude of ap
proaches were introduced each with the fervent hope that
material reformation of substantial numbers of inmates
would follow.
Despite efforts of note to transform the prison
into a social institution for the rejuvination and reform ,
of offenders during the past century, many obstacles have
plagued its progress and many critics have drawn atten
tion to its shortcomings, Tappan points up that in its
effect upon inmate attitudes the typical American prison
of today is almost as effectively nonsocializing as was
the silent system at Auburn in 181^0,?"^ Sykes is even
more critically outspoken in his reference to prison in
his observation:
Deprived of their liberty, stripped of worldly
possessions, denied access to heterosexual relation
ships, divested of autonomy, and compelled to
associate with other deviates, the inmates find that
imprisonment still means punishment however much
imprisonment may have been softened in this modern
era by an accent in humanitarianism and reform,20
IQ
^Paul W, Tappan, Contemporary Corrections (New
York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 195D , p. I t - B i T .
PO
Gresham M, Sykes, The Society of Captives
(New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1958), p. 131,
80
The concept of a reformation oriented effort in
a completely authoritative situation is further assailed
by Sykes when he points up that the prison is an authori
tarian community and will remain an authoritative commun- ;
ity no matter how much the fact of the custodian* s power
may be eased by a greater concern for the inmate better
ment,^^
The student of contemporary penology is faced with
almost contradictory evidence as to the integrity and '
value of concepts of treatment in the modern prison. Evi
dence of real effort to develop a treatment culture is
noticeable and yet the handicaps that plague the penolo
gist are credited with reducing the treatment concept to
mere lip service. As Tappan has pointed out one may
speak piously of the protection of society (through reha
bilitation of the offender) or individualized treatment
op
but these are bones without flesh.
If evidence points to the dedication and effort
of honest and enlightened penologists to create a curative
institution of a punitive institution, why are their ef
forts so futile as to draw the severe criticism of students
of penal practice and progress? The reasons are many
2iibid.. p. 133.
pp
Tappan, op. cit.. p. 3,
81
and it is not the intent of this study to examine them
in detail. In that they affect the ability of correc
tions to attain professionalism they merit brief consid
eration.
In 1833 Gustave de Beaumont and Alexis de Tocque-
ville wrote in their report on United States prisons:
While society in the United States gives the
example of the most extended liberty, the prisons
of the same country offer the spectacle of the
most complete despotism.^3
This observation of United States prisons is
generally accepted by many as accurate today. Sykes
has pointed up the prison as an authoritarian community.
It is controlled and administered around concepts of
custody and order because it is society’s dictate that
it be so controlled and administered. While pressing for
enlightened penology and programing directed at prisoner
reform society demands that criminals be held captive and
that institutions be free of strife. Prison officials,
sensitive to such public desire, are responsive appro
priately in the conduct of their office.
It would be an oversimplification of a complex
problem to dispose of the factor of public involvement
in the process of penology as attentive only to orderly
23
Barnes and Teeters, op. cit., p. i j . 7 .
82
prison management and control. Within the total public
attitude towards the problems of the delinquent remains
yet much unresolved antagonism and hostility, Tappan,
in discussing the problems of the penologist, addressed
!
the problem in these words:
In some quarters it is still considered to be
courageous or smart to berate the criminal, to
assert that anything he gets in the way of punish
ment is too good for him, and to rest on the com
fortable doctrine that if we can only administer
enough punishment, the community will be safe.
That is possibly why we have not made more progress
in that division of human engineering which some
people call **the science of penology,
There is little question that the attitude of
society generally is one of detachment to the overall
problem of the internment of prisoners. The chase, the
prosecution, and the justice in judgment against the of
fender are social processes that both spark the imagina
tion and appeal to the logic of the people* The process
of holding men captive, however, challenges the rational
of most and causes men to turn away from the ugly spectacle
of imprisonment of human beings. Approached with cold
logic imprisonment is a process more identifiable with
medieval methods than as a part of today* s world of
science, Man is confronted by contradictory feelings
in penology, belief in punishment and retaliation and
^^Tappan, op, cit.. p. v.
83
repulsion for the enslavement of people under penal con
trol* The examination of such conflicts would offer a
challenging study.
Society’s confusion in the formation of logical
and consistent attitudes towards penology has been the
major cause for retardation of progress in the field.
Wavering constantly between feelings of benign humanitar
ianism and autocratic authoritarianism, steady and con
stant forward steps have been indeed difficult. It is
doubtful that any of society’s institutions suffer the
vast number of ideologies, intellectual concepts^ social,
economic and political pressures as are found in prison
administration. Gavan expounded upon this point when he
accurately pointed up:
The whole stands as an unwieldy, unorganized, hit or
miss system, which has grown up over hundreds of
years of local policy making, local tradition and
local objective.
Further:
even where general influences have appeared they
have been so adapted, modified and absorbed into
the older local pattern, as to leave our national
penal system nearly as complex, varied and un
standardized as it was before the reforms,25
One of the first observations of any student of
penology is the almost absolute autonomy of the prison.
Only in relatively recent years has there been observed
^^Gavan, op, cit.. p. i|_00.
8U
real evidence of prison **systems,^’ Tappan makes the ;
point that the development of centralized penal adminis
tration is a recent development and that it stands in
sharp contrast with traditional decentralization of i
authority.
Further difficulties in the advancement of penology,
in spite of earnest effort by enlightened leaders, have
resulted from antiquated physical plants. One-third of
all prisons now in use were constructed over seventy years
ago. Less than twenty prisons have been erected since
1900, and many of these are along traditional lines.
Conflicting theories of the purpose of imprisonment, con
flicting influences within institutions, an absence of
uniformity of applications by institutional workers in
crease the handicaps to a treatment culture initiated, 1
perhaps, by the antiquated and treatment stultifying atmos
phere of the ordinary prison architecture.
Caution should be exercised in condemning the con
temporary penal institution, however, and concluding that
treatment is impossible because of archaic architectural
design. Neither should conflicts in ideology and method
ology or an ambivalent public sentiment permit any
26
Tappan, op. cit., p. 90.
^^Cavan, loc, cit.
85
unqualified conclusion that treatment is not applied and
with success. No social institution, particularly
prisons, is without conflict. Conflict is often the yard
stick of growth. Of importance is the fact that within
the artificial environment of prison, necessitated by the
need for control, great strides are being witnessed in
teaching men the art of living in the miriad of inter
relations that confront man. It is in these areas that
the measure of modem penology must' be made. The strength
of the family is not necessarily related to the house in
which it lives. Neither is it the result of benign and j
I
wholesome attention by its neighbors. Its success or I
failure is more closely identified with the quality and |
the substance of its human interactions. Sykes, in j
addressing penology, stated that whatever the influence j
of imprisonment on the man held captive may be, it will !
be a product of the patterns of social interaction which
the prisoner enters into day after day, year after year !
28
and not the details of prison architecture.
The same observation is applicable to other too !
obvious inadequacies in our contemporary prisons. It will'
be observed that these shortcomings are possibly secondary,
to the major development of individualized treatment
28
Sykes, op. cit.. p. 13i|..
86
within archaic structures and despite the absence of
external support.
Probation and parole. The inception of the prac
tices of probation and parole were inevitable consequences
of the decline of corporal punishment and the increasing
influence of the era of enlightenment in working with
20
delinquents. ^
Although stemming from radically different his
tories and reflecting substantial basic differences in
construct and legal structure, probation and parole
share a common purpose, the control and treatment of the
offender in free society. It is common-place to observe
lay people confuse the two terms. It is not unusual to
witness authorities from both fields denounce similarity
and maintain that the two approaches are dissimilar in
practice. Such dissimilarity, as does exist, is based
upon the legal context of each institution, the emphasis
on court attache functions in probation and the impact
of the prison experience on the parolee.
Such observations are not universal, however.
In his discussion of similarities in these two facets of
^Enlightenment in this sense is meant to convey
an increasing humanitarian approach to the offender rather
than enlightenment in the sense of scientific treatment
of the delinquent.
87
corrections. Dressier argues that both probation and
parole are instrumentalities of delinquent control, that
prison is not an unknown experience to most probationers,
that the needs of both delinquent groups is identical and
that the practitioner utilizes the same techniques and j
30 '
tools. The argument that the only real difference be- j
tween probation and parole being one of chance in the pro - I
!
cess of jurisprudence is at least partially theoretical, j
however. In effect there are real and measurable differ- i
I
ences evident. ,
The fundamental legal difference between probation i
and parole is that parole is a prison release procedure
!
and differs from probation in that the latter is a suspend-
31
ed sentence.- Probation is a court function and is
optionally applied by the court in lieu of the imposition '
of sentence. It reflects the extension of judicial
32
clemency. It is a judicial function and under judicial
control. Parole, on the other hand, is a post-penal
period of supervision during which time the offender re
mains a prisoner of the state, or the federal government.
30i)avid Dressier, probation and Parole (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1951)» p. ll^.
31
Walter Reckless, Criminal Behavior (New York:
Appleton-Gentury-Grofts, Inc., 1950), p. 37t|-.
3%bld.. p. 29?.
88
It is thus an administrative function.
The earliest history of probation is suggested in
the evidence of its practice, although not as in present
practices, in seventeenth century colonial life. It is
an evolution of common-1aw practice of conditionally
33
suspending the sentence imposed by the court,Such
practices, many illegal, continued until the advent of
probation as known today in the twentieth century. Con
temporary probation was initiated by a bootmaker, C. John
1 Augustus who, in 181^9 asked leniency by the court and
responsibility for a young drunkard. Thereafter, between
. l8l | . 9 and l86i|, this benevolent humanitarian assisted
several hundred men and women. Countless individuals
■ followed Augustus’ lead and innumerable humanitarian or-
' ganizations participated on a voluntary basis. Massa
chusetts led in the development of probation when in 1870
it first used the process with Juveniles. In I878 the
j
I first reference to the practice was made by the term pro-
! bation and legal action was taken to establish the first '
I 3k !
probation officer in Suffolk County, In 188I probation
1 ;
j practice was allowed throughout the Commonwealth and by
i
I the turn of the century Maryland, Vermont, and Rhode j
I
: Island had initiated probation services. Parallel growth
33gheldon Glueck, Crime and Correction— Selected
Papers (Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Press, 19^2),p.]82
3^See Albert Morris, Criminology (Hew York: Longmans,
Green and Co.. 1938), for a thorough di s eus sion of the evo
lution of probation.. _ _ . .
891
of the practice of probation was evident in England and
on the European continent, '
I
Since the turn of the century, probation has spread
I
rapidly. Today every state but Wyoming has probation !
practices for children; thirty-four states and the Dis
trict of Columbia have adult probation as well as the
35
Federal Courts.
The fundamental purpose of probation is to treat
the offender in free society while at the same time
imposing controls upon him that will insure the public's
safety. The advantages are the avoidance of disrupting,
if not destroying, the social situation of the offender
and his family through prison encarceration, the avoidancej
of the trauma of prison and the aspect of financial sav
ings to society attendant to reduced prison costs but
even more in maintaining the offender in the community
as a productive contributing member thereof.
The practice of probation is not meant to reflect
leniency although this is too frequently evidenced in
contemporary applications. Degeneration of probation to
mere lip service is intolerable. If probation means turn
ing an offender loose once more to see if he can resist
the same sort of temptation to which he has just succumbed.
3^Glueck, op. cit.. p, I83,
36
it is an absurd practice. In theory probation is meant
Î
to involve the application of behavioral sciences to the
end that the problems and conflicts confronting and
i
enveloping the offender are dealt with.
Speaking to the question of probation officer
skills to accomplish these ends, Glueck spells out firm
and compelling criteria. According to his argument the
probation officer must have insight into psychology,
mental hygiene, social case work, adult education; must
understand causation; be able to cope with problems of
personality, familial or vocational orientation; must be
eager, practical and earnest; must have experience with
life, scientific training and a mature outlook,It
would almost appear that not knowing Just what the proba
tion practitioner should bring to his tasks, the whole
span of criteria to successful functioning in behavioral
science is asked. Perhaps the lack of specifics suggests
a professional weakness.
It is axiomatic that probation, springing from
humanitarian impulses yet localized and inevitably wed to
judicial process witnesses sporadic growth. Since it is
under the control of individual and uncoordinated courts.
3^Morris, op. cit,, p, 301,
^^Glueck, loc, cit.
91
probation departments throughout the country have tended
38
to develop their own standards. The result of this
condition has been the development of general rather
than specific techniques, Glueck argues that probation
practices vary all the way from merely **letting the
offender off*’ or releasing him more or less on his own
promise of good behavior, to the most advanced applica-
39
tions of modem methods in rehabilitation.
It has been pointed up that several philosophies
exist as to the basic premises of probation,These
are that probation is a function of law enforcement and
hence fundamentally authoritarian and control centered;
that it is a form of social work demanding case work
applications; that it is some esoteric specialty that
defies delineation and that it is simply the application
of human goodness, sympathy and good will upon the
criminal,^^ Obviously both theory and practice vary in
probation applications today,
A further effecting force upon probation applica
tions is observed in its subservient position to the
court. Probation is an arm of the court and serves as an
3®Morris, op, cit,. p, 307.
^^Glueck, op; cit.. p. I83.
l^OThese arguments are equally valid in the case of
parole,
^^Dressler, op, cit.. p, 1.
92
aid in both investigative and supervisorial functions, !
There is no compulsion upon the court to utilize proba- [
tion, and its application represents an arbitrary decision ;
by the individual presiding judge. In effect, society
has established a social privilege through its legisla-
I
, tive authority and allowed for its retardation, if not i
virtual repression, through the arbitrary right of indi
viduals within the judiciary to interpret this social in- ,
stitution.
The relationship that exists between the court and
probation is made further complex in the severe differences
that exist between the two functions in outlook and atti
tude towards the offender. Morris, in his discussion of
I
forces influencing probation, points up that probation
people are convinced delinquency is the result of factors
within the person which can be corrected. The judiciary,
or law, assumes a man to be a creature of unexplainable
whim who freely chooses good or evil and who must hence
be puni she d,^^ The question that must be resolved by the
student of corrections is whether a professional activity
can exist under such controversial conditions.
Further problems are posed in the development and
application of probation in legislative ineptness.
^^Morris, op. cit.. p. 3l5.
93
cultural lag, public attitude and resistance by other
agencies, in the total field of jurisprudence, towards
probation. Albeit at this moment probation reflects a
field embracing conflicts from within and certain antagon
isms and resistances from without. Its successes have
established it, however, as one of society's new and
undoubtedly permanent, techniques for dealing with the
offender.
Whereas probation is applied in lieu of prison
and hence proceeds a prison experience, parole follows
prison and is a segment of the total legal commitment
period. Theoretically, parole should reflect the terminal
stage of correctional treatment,This treatment pro
cess should begin with police activity and be carried
through in applications by the District Attorney, the
court. Jail officials, the prison experience and parole.
Reckless has stated it thus:
Ideally, parole should place the capstone on an
integrated system of treatment all the way from
arrest, detention, probation, institutionalization,
to final discharge,44
Parole is the release of a convicted offender under
supervision, and under certain restrictions and require
ments, after he has served a portion of his sentence in
^^Reckless, op, cit,. p. I j . 6 7.
94 '
priaon.Parole is the act of releasing or the status I
of being released in vjhich one has served a part of his
maximum sentence, on condition of maintaining good be
havior and remaining in the custody or under the super- '
vision of the institution or some other agency approved 1
U6 :
by the state until a final discharge is granted.^
These points of view suggest the conflict which,
as in probation, exists in parole. In theory, it em
braces the final applications of the total treatment pro
cess applied to societies offenders. It is suggested
that in practice it is an extension of authority and con
trol by instrumentalities of government under premises of
retaliation and punishment.
To many people parole is seen as a method by which
retaliation due and justified can be circumvented, judicial
process short-circuited and the offender released early
to return to his evil anti-social practices. Parole has
been rejected by both law enforcement as leniency and
until recently by social work as authoritarian. Whether
or not parole is inept and inadequate and, if so why, are
questions that challenge students of corrections. It will
be observed that parole suffers both from pains of normal
^^Tappan, op. cit.. p. 363.
^^Edwin H. Sutherland, Principles of Criminology
(New York: B. Lippincott Co., p. ^3^*
95 ,
growth and as a result of an unsyrapathetic, often
1
hostile, environment. '
The earliest evidence of releasing prisoners prior
to the normal expiration of sentence was in the process I
of indenturing juvenile offenders in colonial America.
Although prior to this and as early as 1776 philanthropic
societies had assisted releasees such practices did not
effect prison sentence. Tappan relates that exploitation
of indentured prisoners resulted in the appointment of '
state agents to examine conditions under which such per
sons were maintained and used,^*^ In l8i|5 Massachusetts
established the first state agent to assist discharged
convicts to adjust to the community following release.
Other states followed, but realized early in these experi
ments the need for continued custody and control over the
offender. Earlier, in 1820, English convict colonies,
principally Australia and New Zealand, had inaugurated
the ^ ’Ticket of Leave/^ a term used to this day in many
parole systems. Massachusetts and New York State, in
1865 and 1869, initiated parole in the United States under
the Ticket of Leave method. By 1922 parole had grown to
forty-five states. Contemporary parole practices are now
evident in every state and in the federal govelament.
kl
Tappan, op. cit., p. 361.
96
Parole, as its counterpart probation, has been
subjected to misinterpretation and assault. Unlike
probation that offers help and hope to more salvagable
offenders, parole is extended to more habituated and ;
I
heinous criminals. As such, it is frequently subject to |
attack by law enforcement and the judiciary who argue
that efforts to detect, prosecute and punish are frustrated
I
by this avenue of legal escape from prison. Parole, in
I
fact, is based upon the realization that the vast majority
of offenders must be eventually released and that post
release supervision allows the greatest protection to
society and at the same time offers material aid to the
offender as he attempts to re-take his place in society.
Therefore, parole is more defensible than is proba
tion which can be used at the whim of the court and by
persons ordinarily unskilled in human behavior who possess
only fragmentary knowledge of the offender and his total
capacity to be rehabilitated.
It is sufficient at this point to identify that
parole, as probation and penology, suffers from misunder
standing, distortion, emotional reaction and antagonism
within the social culture in which they exist,
IV. SUMMARY
It has been observed that corrections stems from
man*s efforts to deal with the deviate from imposed
97
regulation and social controls. This problem has long ,
vexed civilization and to this day remains an enigma to '
society.
For countless centuries after the application of
moral implications to delinquent behavior, harsh corporal
punishment was applied to (1) retaliate for specific
delinquent acts, and (2) attempt to cause the offender
to reflect upon his behavior and reform.
Gradually, concepts of reform through treatment
of the individual have taken form. These concepts are
yet vague. Moreover, they are suspicloned and rejected
by many and misunderstood by the vast majority of society’ s
membership. The evolution of a science of corrections
appears to be very much in an embryonic state.
CHAPTER VI
EVOLUTION OP THE CORRECTIONAL WORKER
I. INTRODUCTION
Corrections, like any social activity is molded by
two basicibrces, from within, through the people involved
in its operation and from without, through the effect of
social forces brought to bear upon it. In corrections,
as perhaps nowhere in society’s institutions a wide varia
tion of opinion and attitude exists towards the efficacy
of the institution itself. This is paralleled within the
activity in the divergent beliefs that exist and as re
flected in the heterogeneity of the interest and back
ground and training evident in the practitioners.
II. SOCIAL ATTITUDES TOWARD CORRECTIONS
It is not unusual that corrections should evidence
the variation in thought and disagreement in need and
purpose, that exists. Unlike most of society’s instru
mentalities, it lacks universal understanding and accept
ance* Similarly, because of its infancy, its unique
position of humanitarian, if not scientific, applications
in a social process fundamentally hostile and retaliatory,
it suffers from a lack of maturity in method and in
personnel of common predisposition and motivation.
.98
99
No reasonable examination of this occupational
activity can be accomplished in terms of professional
achievement without at least preliminary audit of the
I
nature of the practitioner and the peculiarities of the |
culture in which he must perform. I
No more important element exists in the develop- '
ment of a science of corrections than the people involved |
in its conduct, advancement and growth. As in all social j
activity and in all of society’s institutions, corrections!
I
today is no more nor less than the composite of the cap- !
abilities and contributions of the people engaged therein.
. Hence, to fully understand the substance of the work j
I
I thorough consideration must be given to these workers,
their tools, and the climate within which they operate. j
Why do we observe a correctional worker? In all I
of society’s collective activities the need is apparent.
Police exist to protect, physicians to heal, engineers to
build. These are identifiable understandable necessities
of collective social organization. The results of an
1 absence of such functions has been tragically evidenced
1
in the past. Being unable to survive without basic func- ,
I
tions, society acts to ensure itself an adequate supply of
uninterrupted service*
But what of corrections? Not only does society
evidence no apparent need for corrections but conversely.
the whole premise of corrections seems contrary to its
natural disposition.
I
It is abundantly clear to the student of criminal
justice that it is a system built upon punitive concepts. |
Law, which dictates method, reflects a belief in the con- >
cept of freewill. If in corrections, certainly not in any
i
legal sense, is the offender considered other than an
individual who, by his own choosing, acts against the
social system and hence is subject to the retaliation of
I
that system through its laws. i
There is no need at this point of analysis to '
discuss the history of the development of jurisprudence,
to argue that most law, in terms of criminal punishment,
pre-dates every living human or to decry the tremendous
proportions of the job of reconstructing established
method on enlightened ideologies. It is enough to sug
gest, if not support, society’s punitive bent, by drawing
attention to the people’s expressed desire for continued
capital punishment and continued loss of the right of
franchise to felons by the voters of California in the
immediate past. Both of these actions reflect punitive
attitudes, the right to ultimate retaliation through
legalized, collective murder and the right, through loss
of franchise, to continual and never-ending punishment.
Yet can it be accurately stated that these people
desire a system that subjects the criminal to punishment |
oriented methods? The facts reflect that, contrarywise,
this same state is among the leaders in probation, penol- i
ogy and parole. Even a cursory examination of its pro
cesses indicates enlightened methods. All of this has
been with the tolerance, if not understanding and
enthusiastic support of the people.
1
Society’s attitude towards the offender, and hence j
towards corrections is, in fact, a result of compromise
I
between several influences. Desiring to survive, and to
avoid suffering the result of criminality, the average
person looks to his government for protection. This
results in the practice of removing and confining the
offender to prevent further injury to society’s members. ;
This does not support entirely the process of imprison
ment, however, as ordinarily costs of imprisonment dwarf
the cost of the offender’s crimes. It can be assumed
then, that other factors than protection dictate society’s
conduct towards the delinquent. Fundamental, is fear of
and hence hostility towards, the criminal, his attitudes
and his demeanor. Not understanding his conflict but wit
nessing frequently the offensive result of his behavior,
society finds it easy to reject and eject the social
deviate. Upon these attitudes rest all arguments for
retaliation and punishment.
102 I
Yet, can it be truthfully said that society’s
attitudes stop here? Indeed not. Although society’s
actions against the aggressions of its delinquents may
be justified in legal and moral arguments, they remain
opposed to its collective conscious. . No rationale can |
remove the stigma of imprisoning human beings and denying
them God’s privileges as free men.
It can perhaps be said that society does not, in I
fact, reflect an attitude towards crime and the criminal
unless it is identified as one of confusion. Criminality
and the criminal are an enigma to society and one from
which it is constantly attempting escape. Being unable
to do so, and embracing fundamentally Christian humani
tarian doctrines, society finds itself with no real
choice but to accept criminality and to endeavor to develop
methods by which it can make the problem as inconspicuous
as possible, through well controlled and orderly institu
tions and programs that at least give the impression of
striving towards the ultimate correction of criminal cause
and effect. It is suggested in society’s attitudes that
it is much more concerned with creating the appearance
of enlightened corrections than with an all-out effort to
treat the delinquent and the whole problem of delinquency
and crime.
It is within this climate that the correctional
worker is required to function.
103
III. CORRECTIONS’ POSITION IN THE
GOVERNMENTAL PROCESS
Corrections exists within governmental structure.
It represents a function of government and more specifi
cally a phase of the process of criminal justice. Both
governmental bureaucratic procedure and the attitudes of
its associate functions effect its status and the perform
ance of its workers.
Basic to these considerations is the question of
whether or not a profession can exist in contemporary
politically oriented government and bureaucratic process.
Furthe 1% whether a profession develops to full status and
stature from activities unique only to the bureaucratic
process. It has been pointed up that the act of employ
ment by government of professional practitioners effects
little, if at all, their professional status or perform
ance.^ Medical people, lawyers, architects and other pro
fessionals are to be found in all elements of government.
Their employee relationship has relative insignificant
bearing upon their capacity to perform professionally.
This is fundamentally due to two factors, identification
with the profession in matters of performance standards
^A. M. Garr-Saunders and P. A. Wilson, The Pro
fessions (Oxford, England: The Clarendon Press, 1933)»
P# 478.
io4
and recognized superiority in specific specialty fields.
But what of the professional activity that is the
result of governmental creativity? When the state repre
sents the sole employer its control of entry and dismissal
is synonymous with control of ability to practice. Fur
thermore the standards, aims and methodology of the
activity are dictated by the governmental process. Oarr- '
Saunders and Wilson contend that in such situations the
!
government cannot consider permitting practitioners the i
right to invoke professional hallmarks in that by so doing
they would assume responsibility and authority that is
2
the sole right of the state.
Hence, it is suggested that professionalism is a I
characteristic of the private sector and that it is not I
possible when conditions reflect activity inception and
growth within government. Such conclusion must be condi
tioned with careful analysis of the facts. Teaching,
for example, overwhelmingly a state function, is nonethe
less recognized as professional in most Important
respects. Careful examination suggests that activities
both within and without government are subjected to
restrictions imposed by the state. Differences then, in
this respect, are In degree. This degree can be of such
%bld.. p. i^79.
105
proportions as to prohibit professional achievement in !
both activities of government and, for that, in the pri- '
vate sector. Undeniably, government activities realize
a greater control. This is perhaps particularly true in
corrections because of the involvement of so many forces
and activities within society in the correctional process.
There exists only minimal cohesiveness among the
agencies of government charged with the responsibility of
exercising criminal justice. Corrections, as one of four
major activities in this process realizes a unique posi-
3
tion. It is dedicated to curative effort. The remain
ing members of the criminal justice family of agencies
are products of social need for protection and defense
against crime.^ Some argue that they are actually instru
mentalities of retaliation and punishment. Historically
they far outdate corrections which is a comparative infant.
In theory, the concept of corrections involves
all elements of the machinery of criminal justice. Each
phase is directed at the achievement of the same goals,
the protection of the group and the welfare of the indivi
dual. Additionally, all focus attention upon the same
3The four phases of criminal justice being recog
nized as detection, prosecution, the judicial process and
corrections.
^Including the application of probation, the
suspended sentence and other devices wherein the judicial
arm is extended into corrective techniques.
106
sub-culture within society, that of the anti-social and
delinquent. Yet there exists limited evidence of common
ideology and only fragmentary evidence of shared method
ology and technique.
The reasons for this disparity in philosophy and
approach stem, for the better part, from differences in
outlook upon criminal causation which, in turn, spring
from attitudes held towards offender members of society.
Ridley has maintained that society must approach the
delinquency problem in the same frame of mind as it would
set about slum clearance or any other social enigma,
without complicating the issue with abstract theories of ,
atonement.*'^ This observation could be expanded to include
all emotional involvements in society’s approach to crime
and corrections. Historically, the approach has been
one of crime and punishment. The substitution of correc
tions for punishment is a contemporary concept and lacks
the strength and acceptance of mature social institutions.
Moreover, it stands somewhat apart from the other elements
in the process of criminal justice in that it challenges
the basic foundations of all, that delinquency must be
met with retaliatory social devices basically punitive
^Viscountess Ridley, * *Should Crime be Controlled by
Fear or Understanding?’ ’ Federal Probation. March, 195l|-«
: 107
!in design and application. Therefore, the identification
I
of corrections as a part of criminal justice is qualified.
Conversely, the argument that all phases of criminal
justice are involved in the correctional process must he
accepted as abstract at best. It is not the purpose of
this study to pursue the efficacy of either position* It
is sufficient that cognizance be taken of the fact that
corrections does not necessarily enjoy full member status
in the family of agencies directed at the resolvement
of the problems of delinquency.
IV. MAJOR GOHPLIGTS
The foregoing observations suggest that the correc
tional process and the efforts of the correctional worker,
are not necessarily accepted universally and moreover are,
to a considerable extent, in conflict with society’s
traditional methods of treatment of offenders. A careful 1
examination of corrections is equally justified from the
standpoint of internal conflict in theory and in applica
tion.
The conflicts that confront corrections are many
and varied. It must be kept in mind always that correc
tions is an institution of comparatively recent origin and
that its purposes are still in a formative state. Addi
tionally, it lacks the maturity and the clear identifica
tions of the more classic occupational activities.
It is not meant that this study should deal with
an analysis of the conflicts that confront new occupational
activities or more specifically those that plague correc- '
tions. However, limited attention must be given to this
aspect of occupational development to permit objective I
and accurate examination of corrections* status in the
family of occupations.
There are three major conflicts existent in con
temporary corrections. These are problems in purpose,
problems in identification and problems of a generic
nature. These will be dealt with in order.
Problems in purpose. The major problem confronting
I
corrections today is found in the dichotomy existent in
its dual role of protecting society and treating the
offender. In atteu^ting to reconcile these two points
of emphasis into a logical work effort, the average cor
rectional worker finds himself in a state of confusion
which can be resolved only by his gravitating towards
6
punitive or permissive philosophies. Such tendencies
may well be encouraged by practitioner disposition, agency
policy, background or even by the emotional involvements
6
Elmer K. Nelson, ’ ’The Gulf Between Theory and
practice in Corrections,” Federal Probation, September,
1954, p. 48.
109
7
of the worker. Notwithstanding cause, practitioners are
rather clearly divided in belief as to where importance
rests in their accomplishing their specific jobs whether
it be to protect the community against the offender or
whether it be to treat the offender to the end that his
social deviations are dispelled.
It has been said that crime is a three dimensional
8
problem: legal, psychological and sociological* Such
observation triggers the imagination as to the proper
position and role of corrections. Surely it is neither
legal nor sociological. If psychological is meant to
embrace, among other manifestations, the concept of a
treatment theory, then the correctional process must be
identifiable, as a segment of that treatment.
Yet, real conflict exists in corrections as to
whether the worker is principally a treatment practi
tioner or whether his role is one of observer; to apply
surveillance, to protect the community and to observe the
treatment needs of his ward directing treatment thereto
through the use of professional people, social workers,
psychologists, vocational therapists and so forth.
"Clarence Ray Jeffery, ”An Integrated Theory of
Grime and Criminal Behavior,” Journal of Criminal Law.
criminology and Police Science, Harch-April. 1959.
110
Mary Hiobmond has said:
Now, as always, there are two fundamental approaches
to social problems; through external structured
organization, and through the socializing of the
individual and the group by educational process.9
This is the choice of the correctional worker; to apply
control through external devices, surveillance, authority
oriented methodology, administrative techniques in hopes
of controlling behavior to acceptable norms while seeing '
to society’s protection, or to stimulate internal cura
tive attitudinal change in the offender through long-range,
treatment methods at the risk of immediate overt criminal
behavior. Unquestionably, the correctional worker can
reconcile these two points of emphasis to an extent wherety
he functions adequately at his job. Yet, the fact cannot
be dismissed that he must decide upon which foot weight
will rest. The conflict exists and will continue until
more clear identification of purpose in corrections is
developed as it is observed in the older occupations.
There are many reasons for the heterogeneity of
goals in corrections. Some of the more obvious are the
strong influence of local law enforcement and judicial
authority, the non-specific nature of enabling legislation,
divergent opinions within and without corrections, wide
educational variations reflected in correctional
9Mary Ellen Richmond, . _¥hat is Social Case Work?
An Introductory Description {NSW'Tork:— BUS'S6IT ‘ Sags---:
Ill
I
practitioners, lack of universal standards, loose struc
tural ties between correctional activities and so forth.^^
Others could include the emotional temper of the people,
the incident of crime, support or absence of support of
press, educational level of the community and many others. j
Unquestionably corrections reflects a miriad of goals de- |
pending upon the individual situation. These reduce them
selves, by and large, however, to methods of control and/ ;
or a science of treatment. ;
Within the context of this thesis the point is
crucial that unless corrections can identify itself as
an instrument, a means whereby curative applications re- |
suit in measurable results, any claim it may make to pro
fessional stature is subject to serious challenge. If
the basic purpose in corrections is to hold the delinquent,
in institutional settings for given periods of time and
to apply lesser, but still identifiable, controls through
supervision in the community, be it in the form of proba
tion or parole, there seems little in its substance that
can be identified within the criteria of professionalism.
Therefore, although divergency of opinion may exist
as to the goals and purposes of contemporary corrections.
Foundation, 1922), p. 533.
^^Perspectives and Guides in the Expansion of
Social Work Education for the Correctional Field, No. 8-
3I 1-6, September 15, 1958.
112
there can be no such disagreement in the question of cor
rections as a professional social instrument. If it be
such, it is through its recognized ability to treat
offenders to a point where correction of social maladjust
ment is evidenced.
Problems in identification. The manner in which
such treatment is accomplished raises the second point of
conflict within corrections; the problems of discipline *
identification. Ohlin points to the fact that contempor- ,
ary corrections is in a transitional stage and that within
its ranks can be found a range of theories from middle
class philosophy of life with its colorations of humani-
tarianism, protestant ethic, Christian doctrine to the
i
science of behavior as it is expressed through the school
11
of psychiatry. The correctional field has not achieved
agreement about which bodies of knowledge and skills are
necessary to accomplish the task which society has set.^^
Nonetheless, it must be accepted that delinquency is a
product of the conflict that exists between the individual
and his environment. Hence training within the behavioral
sciences and grasp of such theory and practice is tantazmnt
^^Lloyd E. Ohlin, Sociology and the Field of Cor
rections (New York; Russell Sage Foundation, 19^8),
p. l^b.
^2perapectives. p. 3.
113
to ability to perfona aa a practitioner of correctiona,^3
I
I
Much of popular contemporary opinion identifies
corrections as a segment of the application of the pro
fession of social work# Interestingly, social work has
i
been twice involved in corrections, once during the period
of reform up to the 1930s when it wielded strong influence
in the abolition of archaic methods, particularly in !
prisons, and encouraged community oriented treatment
specifically in the field of probation* Through conflictsj
over the efficacy of social work applications in an auth
ority situation, social work abandoned corrections until
very recently. Presently there exists a growing belief ;
1
that it represents the elite in correctional applications.!
There is considerable support to social work’s
claim as the leader in corrections’ growth and develop
ment. Its basic aim is certainly to reconcile the indi
vidual with his environment. This is suggested in
Blauch’s definition when he identifies it as a profession^
I
service rendered to people for the purpose of assisting
them as individuals or in groups to attain satisfying
l^Adminis trati on is intentionally overlooked in
that it is believed that the contemporary heterogeneity
of backgrounds witnessed in corrections together with
the divergent purposes evident allows for administrative
leadership from other behavioral science disciplines.
It is not argued that this is necessarily desirable.
114
relationships and standards of life in accordance with
their particular wishes and in harmony with those of the
Ik
community."^ This harmony between individual and commun- i
ity is attained through case work applications which in
volve basically the individualized study of people and
their total social situation and the application of ap
propriate treatment so as the person achieves maximum
1
social harmony and adjustment within his particular limi- I
tations.
It should be recognized that social work, in its
classic sense, is directed at applications to normal
people in abnormal social situations; care of the indigent,
attention to the social need and problems of the infirmed,
care for the victims of pestilence, tragedy, physical and
social disaster. By a slow process of metamorphoses it
has expanded itself to embrace applications more clearly
identifiable as behavioral.
Abrahams on has said that if we suppose the human
mind and behavior, including anti-social conduct, are
intimately connected, or if we assume that much of crime
is an expression of the individual’s aggression, this
should be investigated by that physician whose profession
^Lloyd E. Blauch, Education for the Professions
(U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare;
Washington, D.G.: United States Government Printing
Office, 1955)» p. 5o5.
115
brings him in daily contact with the personality and
15
behavior of man, the psychiatrist. This suggests the
problem of correcting the abnormality of the offending
individual would then be treated by the physician through
psychiatry or psychology. Hence, psychological applica
tions are introduced as the proper carriage for correc- |
tions. ”It is the mind of the human being, affected by
organic and sociological factors, which determines his ^
behavior.If behavior is to be changed, then, the i
science of medicine is best equipped to that end.
Caution must be used in two elements of such
argument. First there exist too few practitioners in
psychiatry or psychology to assume the task of manning
corrections or to give credence to any argument that it
fulfills any position other than that of an aid. Secondly,
and more important, while there exists strong evidence to
support the theory that offenders are sick people with
identifiable medical and psychiatric needs, these same
problems are reflected, as well, in the majority of
society’s members who are capable of functioning in normal
fashion, to at least the degree of avoiding anti-social
^David Abrahams on. Crime and the Humn Mind
(Now York: Columbia University Press, 19Ïf4) » p. 17*
16
Marcel Frym, Past and Future of Criminal Rehabil
itation. Law and Medicine, A Symposium, Vol. IIÏ
(Emory University, Journal of Public Law, 1955)» p. ^5l*
Il6
behavior.
Hamilton, himself a social worker, sums it up,
perhaps, when he points up that social work can help the
lesser delinquent but that the true delinquent needs
restraint and authoritative coercion, and the psychiatrist
17
has to carry any direct treatment involved*
The quest for proper discipline identification
does not stop here. The argument is made that crime is
essentially a social phenomena and that jurists and
18
sociologists should study it, not doctors or biologists.
There exist most sound arguments for corrections as an
application of public administration. Certainly, it re
presents an important facet of the administration of
government and additionally because of the heterogeneity
of disciplines needs it (public administration) is best
qualified to draw together the varied skills necessary
to do the job.
Perhaps the problem is summarized in this observa
tion:
In the light of present developments it is not
possible to say what is the best possible organiza
tion of educational resources for the correctional
^^Gordon Hamilton, Theory and Practice of Social
Case Work (New York: Columbia univers'it'y Press, I94O) »
p. 233.
^^Giorgia Plorita, ’ ’Enquiry into Causes of Grime,”
Journal of Criminal Law. Criminology and Police Science,
May-June, 1953» p. 5*
117
field. Each university presents a different collec
tion of resources with locally determined relation
ships with corrections.
It also seems clear that no one department of
the.university now contains within its curriculum
all the knowledge and skill teaching necessary for
adequate preparation of all correctional personnel,19
Albeit, until the purposes and goals of corrections
are more clearly defined and the means by which these
goals will be achieved identified, little can be achieved
in developing a correctional educational discipline of
complete professional scope. Although evidence exists
of sporadic exploratory attempts to define an educational
preparation, it will not come to fruition until the
activity of corrections determines what its needs are
and thereafter turns to education to fill these needs in
joint enterprise and effort.
Problems of a generic nature. It has been previous
ly suggested that there exist real barriers to both the
existence and growth of corrections and coincidentally
its professional fulfillment because of its existence in
a political environment. It has been stated that cor
rections lives almost entirely within the control of
politically oriented government and receives its energy
and direction therefrom. Carr-Saunders and Wilson
^^Perspectives, op. cit., p. 39.
118
maintain that a profession, so disciplined and ordered
from above, cannot be responsible for determining what
constitutes competence and what constitutes honorable con
duct in relation to its specific duties; that openings
for initiative are severely restricted and that few modes
of expression are left to the vitality which is latent
in every professional group. Moreover, that it can make
no corporate contribution by advancing policies concern
ing matters of public interest within its sphere of exper-
20
ience and by attempting propaganda to get them accepted.
This is a severe, and challengeable indictment of the
ability of any governmental activity to achieve profes
sional stature, but it is suggestive of the frictional
elements that exist within such situations.
It has been pointed up that a further impediment
to correction^ growth is witnessed in its unique position
in the governmental process both from the point of view
of total social attitudinal context and specific activity
conflicts.
Considerable effort has been made to emphasize the
existence of punitive substance in most of our approaches
to crime and corrections. Ridley goes so far as to main
tain that the unshakable conviction of the value of fear
20
Carr-8aunders and Wilson, op. cit., p. l j . 78.
119
and painful punishment as a deterrent is so deeply rooted
in so many people that it is difficult to resist a conclu
sion that it is in reality a subconscious disguised desire
21
for revenge. Whether one wishes to analyze the dynamics
of crime and punishment as both an individual and collec
tive phenomena, it must be acknowledged that there exists
a cultural lag between the principles and philosophies
of the corrections ideology and popular beliefs and in
stitutions#
Before the discussion of conflicts confronting
the correctional worker is abandoned, attention should be
drami to problems unique to its specific components#
These are identified only for purposes of assisting the
reader evaluate corrections as a unified activity and as
a professional activity# They are, to a certain extent,
suggestive rather than conclusive#
probation occupies a somewhat different position
from its fellow correctional activities, penology and
parole, in that the latter are more specifically identi
fiable as functions of the administration of government
while probation is an arm of the judiciary. This results
in its being separately administered and even more
important, perhaps, existing under the influence of the
court, or even more specifically, the individual in
21
Ridley, op# cit.. p# I9#
120
Immediate Judicial authority# The extent of its applica
tion, Its philosophies and even techniques are specifically
related to the court# Both of its basic components, in
vestigation and supervision are controlled by the court#
It can be accurately said that, without the court’s sup
port, probation cannot exist.
22
The probation officer engages in social case work.
As such he engages in working with the personality, with
problems of environment, with inter-personal conflicts#
His is a science of behavior, causation, treatment, cure#
Yet, in his work he is subject to the direction, guidance
and control of the court# Unless it is assumed that the
court permits probation to function independently subject
to its own will or that it subjugates itself to probation,
it is evident that the court and probation occupy a
superior-inferior, influencer-influenced relationship#
The question then is how can probation develop as a
science when leadership and ultimate initiative is vested
in authority not necessarily oriented in the fundamentals
of behavioral science?
Problems of a generic nature are, perhaps, more
numerous in prison work than in any of the other facets
Margaretta Williamson, The Social Worker in the
prevention and Treatment of Delinquency (Hew York;
Columbia University Press, 193^), p# 13#
121
of correctional activity. This is due, as has been sug
gested, to the dual role of the prison, particularly as
has developed in recent years, of holding the prisoner
and attempting to effect a change in his behavior through
treatment. Despite its outward appearance of solidarity,
the prison is a distinctly divided institution. It is
not intended that an analysis of prison culture be here
accomplished. Yet cognizance must be taken of that seg
ment of its myriad of conflicts which relates itself
directly to the correctional process. This is the strug^
that exists between security, or the process of maintain
ing custody, and treatment, or the process of attempting
to effect behavioral change.
Both facets are ultimately involved in the cor
rectional process, whether willingly or not, in that both,
as with all aspects of the prison experience, effect the
ultimate behavior of the inmate. The crucial question is
to what extent do these two forces blend into a correc
tional whole or contrarywise to what extent do they act
to nullify the correctional process. Historically, it
has been suspected among students of penology that there
exist real differences in philosophy which result in a
leveling effect. Recent studies tend to support these
beliefs.
The inherent generic conflict found in penology
122
is also evident in parole. This has been discussed pre
viously, and will not be re-examined here. It is worth
noting that ranks in parole are divided between custodian-
minded and treatment-minded people.
V. THE DILEMMA OF CAUSATION AND CURE
An effort has been made to clarify and support
the position that a great amount of the sustenance of any
argument that corrections is a profession must come from
correctioiiË exhibited ability to do the basic job of
curing criminality as it is manifested in human behavior.
Corrections makes the brash claim that through its prac
titioners and their skills this is done. To understand
fully the task that confronts the professional correction
al worker then, and to analyze him as a claimant to pro
fessional status demands an examination of the dynamics
of criminal causation and the curative methods unique to
his activity. In a professional sense, this is his ulti
mate job. The diagnosis of the causes of delinquency and
the application of specific skills to their removal com
prise his specific social function*
Since it is impossible to cure diseases without
knowing their causes, it is reasonable to assume that this
23
is also true regarding crime. Without knowing the
^3Abrahams on, op. cit., p. l6.
123
causes of crime no treatment is possible as none can be
developed and applied* Dressier decries that we know
more about the psychology of the body than of the dynamics
2k
of human behavior#^ Reckless goes so far as to take the
position that it is impossible in the existing state of
criminological knowledge to say just what are the causes
of crime*
Analogy with medicine or other physical science
requires a basic assumption that delinquency is foreign
to the human organism and fabric as decay to the tooth
or infection to normal cell structure. The analogy must
be tempered with caution. The mere acceptance of con
fusion over criminal causation suggests that comparisons
are risky and identifiable as guess work at best. If
no clear definition of causation exists, what supports
comparison with medicine or other activity? What, in
fact, dictates that causation, as a distinct character
istic within the delinquent as against the non-delinquent
exists? Glueck makes the observation that criminality
reflects the most complex of all problems, the riddle of
26
man’s motives and actions. Or is the riddle but a
^^David Dressler. Probation and Parole (New York;
Columbia University Press, 19^1), p.15.
^^Walter Reckless, Criminal Behavior (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Ltd., 19l}.0), p. 153.
g A
^^Sheldon Glueck, Crime and Correction— Selected
Papers (Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Press, Inc.,
1932), p. 23.
12lf
facade that man throws up rather than face the ugly fact
that delinquency is a stranger to no one?
Accepting that the term causation must be used in
criminality with reservations, that the reasons for crime
are vague, that crime may be normal and honesty and virtue
assumed,there still exists the phenomena that certain
individuals act out against society while others find it
possible to function within the rules of social order*
People are disposed, as history most adequately gives
witness, to existing collectively and to accumulating
cooperative effort to the best interests of both group and
individual. This theory is applied with varying degrees
of success through various social constructs, but the
basic ingredients are everywhere observed. Yet, within
all societies, deviates appear, persons more disposed to
take from, than contribute to, the social good and who
refuse, or are unable, to comply with the rules of social
28
order. There must exist explainable reasons for this
condition.
While the study of the treatment of the delinquent
is a relatively recent phenomena, the study of the causes
of crime date back to the eighteenth century and earlier.
^*^The theory will be discussed briefly later in
this thesis.
2Glt is appreciated that this oversimplifies a com
plex matter. It is meant more as provocative than conclu
sive thought.
125
Early history reflects the existence of a belief in the
cause of crime as stemming from the influence of evil
spirits, possession of the criminal by the devil or other
sinister and supernatural power.
History reflects as well the emergence of the con
cept of free will, the human ability to choose between
evil and good and to act accordingly. Our criminal law
is based on the time honored assumptions that human actims
presuppose the formation of a conscious intent and that
foming of an intent is exclusively a function of the
human mind as a free agent,
While recognizing that criminality was a result of
dynamic forces within the human being rather than super
natural forces from without, little effort was extended to
seek the reasons beyond the conclusion, which exists to
this day, that some people are bad or evil, and will
hence determine to act in evil or bad ways.
Not until the late eighteenth century did any
material effort develop to establish why certain persons
are disposed to act in socially unacceptable ways. Here,
in an atmosphere of intellectual renaissance, society
began to show interest in its delinquent members beyond
merely branding and disposing of them. The earliest
^Marcel Frym, The Criminal Intent (Los Angeles;
University of Southern California, School of Public
Administration, 1955)•
126
evidence of unrest with, archaic philosophies and prac
tices were evident in this movement.
Although his theories have long since been dis
credited, Gesare Lombroso will endure as the first stu
dent of the criminal to approach the problem on the basis
of the individual rather than his crime. Godwin, in his
discussion of theories of cause, describes him as the
Columbus of criminology who failed to recognize the coun-
30
try he had discovered. In the last hours of the
eighteenth century Lombroso hypothicated that the
criminal was a result of inherent physical character
istics, principally skull construction and resultant
brain structure. His Anthropologist or Continental School
both opened the way to individualized consideration and
an eventual scientific approach, Lombroso failed as a
scientist, seeking only proof to support his pre-con
ceived conclusions.
Lombroso*a concepts were generally accepted until
expelled by the advent of the scientists. These were
led by Charles Goring who argued that the criminal was
the result of inferior constitutional construction. His
argument that the delinquent was the reflection of
3^George Godwin, Criminal Man (New York; George
Brazillu, Inc., 1957), p. if.
127
constitutional predisposition, physical, mental and moral,
sprang from scientific study of a considerable sampling
of criminal cases* If his theories are to be challenged,
his method was beyond reproach.
Contemporary theories of the causes of crime are
perhaps more sophisticated although only the test of time
will determine their superiority to early efforts. Of
considerable popularity today is the concept that the
person who violates social rules of good behavior is
suffering mental or emotional ailment. His criminal acts
are manifestations of such malady, mere symptomology sug
gesting deep seated personality disturbance. Attention
to his crimes, it is argued, only diverts attention from
the basic problem which, until cured, will initiate more
and more delinquent behavior.
This theory, as with all singular concepts of
criminal causation, is subject to challenge. Many, if
not most, criminals show psychological profiles compar
able to the social norm and the psychological manifesta
tions in the criminal are found common in the non
delinquent person as well. Although there is unquestion
ably substance to the argument that specific delinquents
are suffering severe personality disorders, mental ill
ness, and emotional disturbances which manifest themselves
in criminal acts, there is, conversely, little evidence
128
that all criminality stems from such disorders. Contrary-
wise, at our present stage of development of criminology
as an exact science, there is no empirical proof that such
is not the case. Society’s knowledge of criminal causa
tion is not such as to allow irrefutable statements in any
respect.
In similar fashion the argument of the environ
mentalist suffers from close scrutiny. While slums and
broken homes and high delinquency areas are socially un
desirable, they send forth honest men as well as thieves,
leaders in all fields as well as socially sick and mal
adjusted people. Hence it must be assumed that other
elements than poor homes and sub-standard neighborhoods
are involved in the creation of the delinquent,
Pigion points up that crime is nothing more than
behavior, an act or form of conduct which is so unaccept
able to the organized social group that the feeling has
31
been expressed in the tangible form of a prohibitive law.
Perhaps this suggests, though it was not the author’s
intent, that criminality reflects a lack of cultural
development. Perhaps individuals are criminal only
because they have never learned to be non-criminal, immorsl
^^Helen D, Pigion, Probation and Parole in Theory
and Practice, A Study j^nual (Mew York; National Proba
tion Association, 1942), p, 1 8 1 | . *
129
because they were never taught morality. It is conceiv
able that the criminal impulse is as normal as is the sex
impulse or the drive for gratification of physical needs
or personal recognition. As other drives must be con
trolled and contained within the limits of acceptable
social conduct, the criminal or delinquency impulse must
be totally repressed. Yet its repression does not deny
its existence. Feelings of guilt, that express themselves
in retaliatory concepts, may support the argument that
such impulse is universai and the extent of the frustra
tion that results from its repression.
Lastly, and of growing stature is the theory of
social alienation as the fundamental basis for the
development of the delinquent. This theory suggests that
the anti-social behavior of the individual is assessible
to the fact that the individual feels alien to society,
hence rejects and harbors hostility towards society which
feelings culminates in aggressive acts towards the social
order. The causes of such a sense of adverseness may
stem from environmental factors or personality factors or
inherent disposition but result in the individual acquir
ing inadequate mental, emotional and attitudinal accrudi-
ments to allow normal, healthy, social existence.
Discussion of the popular and traditional theories
of criminal causation is almost without end. They run
130
the gamut from personality disfiguration as evidence in
psychological approaches to belief that the criminal is
just plain omery. All have a logical substance, if
fragmentary. All are, perhaps, applicable in specific
delinquency cases. Just how the contemporary dilemma
in the matter of criminal causation effects the stature
of the correctional worker is a mute question. Dressier
summarizes the predicament of the correctional worker
with this observation of the relationship of the practi
tioner to causation.
In probation and parole work, therefore, we will
leave research in crime causation generally to the
sociologist, psychologist, and criminologist. We
will concern ourselves with individuals and try to
discover why each of those persons acted as he did
and may, perhaps, just possibly, maybe, remedy the
situation, 32
VI, PROFILE OF THE CORRECTIONAL WORKER
Within this total climate the correctional worker
functions. He is faced with a society that reflects both
ambivalence and disunity in its feelings towards correc
tions. He is a stranger, in many respects, to the other
agents and agencies created to deal with the criminal and
his behavior. Within his own activity he observes con
flicts in ideology and purpose as well as appropriate
32
Dressier, op. cit., p. 2k.
131
method* Finally he is beset with strong evidence that
his ability to perform his unique function is subject to
challenge from without and doubt from within*
I
The question arises as to how such obstacles effect|
his stature as a professional person. A certain degree
of caution is indicated lest the assumption be made that
professionalism is precluded in situations reflecting con
flict and problems of application. No profession is
without conflict and man has not achieved perfection in
any field of endeavor. Hence the mere existence of con
fusion, conflict and even evident inadequacy does not in
itself deny the existence of professional status to cor
rectional workers.
While the correctional worker may appear dwarfed
by the enormity and complexity of the social enigma he
undertakes to control, and the complex and confounding
problems attendant to this enigma it may be that by other
measurements he assumes giant stature. It may be, in
fact, the enormity of his problems and the enormity of his
effort to overcome these problems that gives him cause to ,
believe he deserves professional recognition.
What is the profile of the correctional worker?
It has been suggested in much of this discussion. Much
has been said of the complexity of his work situation and
attention has been directed to the heterogeneity of both
132 ,
his tools and the problems to which these tools are
applied.
Basically the correctional practitioner is a case
worker. In the absence of scientifically founded diag
nostic method he must approach his clients on an individual
case basis* He is not, as Dressier suggests, floundering
hopelessly in futile fashion in his efforts to assist his
wards develop socially acceptable behavior,33 The mind
and emotion of man, as with his body, seeks normalcy.
Diagnostic skills may implement corrections but their
absence do not preclude successful treatment. As in
other curative science attention to symptomology can
result in measurable positive change.
Of fundamental importance and significance is the
breadth of knowledge and skill with which the correctional
worker must be equipped. The complexity of the phenomena
of delinquency, the dilemma of causation and cure coupled
with the myriad of social involvements in crime, punish
ment and treatment make necessary his command of many
talents. The correctional worker deals with every facet
of delinquency from the treatment of the individual
criminal to coping with community attitudes. He is at
once both general practitioner and specialist in delin
quency, sociology, anthropology, and educator. Everywhere
33ibid.
133 !
he faces new challenge to which he must apply specific ^
skills•
The correctional worker is authoritative, accepting
and imposing upon the client restrictions of both agency
and community. His authoritative role is, however, a
therapeutic, supportive role in contrast to the tradi
tional authoritarian role which implies more of a punitive
I
and crushing approach to the offender.
In essence then, the correctional worker is a
practitioner skilled in the dynamics of human behavior
and trained to effect material attitudinal and behavioral
improvement through case work techniques.
CHAPTER VII
A COMPARISON OP CORRECTIONS WITH THE
CRITERIA OP PROFESSIONALISM
Before examining corrections as it applies itself
to professional criteria, certain fundamental considera
tions should be re-examined. It has been pointed out,
and must be kept in mind, that professionalism is not an
absolute state. Rather it represents an approximation.
It is doubtful that any occupational activity is totally
professional; that is, that it embraces all of the char
acteristics of professional stature.
Further, the determination of the existence of
professional stature is fundamentally an arbitrary deci
sion, The criteria of professionalism are both complex
and involved. There is probably no end to the process of
identifying and analyzing such criteria. As social condi
tions and attitudes change, society’s outlook upon both
professionalism and the professions will be adjusted.
What is considered professional today may well be dis
carded tomorrow. Additionally, the professions them
selves will evoke and evolve change through the normal
process of growth and development. It can only be said
then that at any given moment certain occupations reflect
a substantial number of the marks of professionalism to a
134
135
degree that permit them to claim, with authority, the
existence of professional stature.
Although it has been suggested that professional
ism is quantitative rather than qualitative, it cannot be
assumed that the determination of the existence of pro
fessionalism is a mere mathematical process. The various
criteria of professionalism are subject to examination
from the standpoint of social values. Hence the existence
of arithmetic plurality in the matter of characteristics
evident is not necessarily, in and of itself, sufficient
support for a conclusion regarding the presence or
absence of professional status.
In essence, the determination of professionalism
can never be established in a scientific or definitive
way. Professionalism, like many social concepts, is
subject to individual interpretation. The examination
of corrections that follows must be similarly undertaken.
I, CORRECTIONS AS AN INTELIÆCTUALIY
ORIENTED ACTIVITY
The theoretical context and practice of corrections
is an intellectual rather than a physical process. Cor
rections is a manifestation of the field of human behavior.
Its purpose and technique demand intellectual capacity
and training.
136
There are strong indications that the field of
corrections is evolving a theoretical context although
this context is, at present, only fragmentary. While the
evolving theory of corrections reflects the influence of
other applications, law, social work, medicine, sociology,
public administration, it shows signs of developing its
own individual identity, .
Real progress is needed before corrections can
make claim to a clearly definable body of knowledge.
At present, considerable heterogeneity of discipline is
reflected in its practice. Furthermore, real conflict
exists as to its basic purposes. Until these conflicts
are resolved, limited progress can be expected in the
development of a body of accepted knowledge of methodology
and technique. At the present time there exist personnel
within the activity reflecting a myriad of backgrounds and
applying to the work their specific talents in an unco
ordinated fashion. There is reason to assume that a
severe struggle for eminence is presently taking place.
Undoubtedly all of the elements of the science of human
behavior will contribute to the development of a body of
I
knowledge in corrections. This time consuming process is
yet in its embryonic stages*
Corrections is, at present, unable to state
empirically that it possesses special competence and that
137 '
it can apply certain correctional technique with assurance
of certain results. It is not a science in the sense
that it can predict specific results from specific appli
cations, It is possibly safe to say that it will never j
attain status as an exact science. This does not suggest,
however, that through its applications, measurable human
I
change is not possible. There is sufficient evidence of
the latter to support corrections’ claim that it does
treat successfully. Research is needed to define more
clearly correctional processes, procedures, and, more
specifically, the practitioner’s tools and skills includ
ing the practitioner-client relationship.
Until such time as an acceptable body of knowledge
in corrections is determined, it is impossible to examine
the degree to which practitioners, and agencies, pursue
continual, intellectually-oriented professional develop
ment. The recruitment requirements in corrections, from
the standpoint of academic achievement, are improving
though yet quite low. Many agencies in corrections are
developing recognizable training, although a great per
centage of such effort is directed at procedural technique
rather than the fundamental purpose of the agency, the
treatment of the offender.
138
II. CORRECTIONS AS AN INSTRUMENT OF
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
It can be validly stated that corrections fills a
social need. While true society could consider return
to capital punishment, lifetime imprisonment, or even
banishment, to solve the problem created by its delinquent
member, fiscal considerations and moral implications pre
clude such actions. The cultural development of contemp
orary society demands humane corrective action in all
elements of individual maladjustment. The treatment of
the criminal is no exception.
Although existing in governmental structure and
subject to political influences as well as judicial
authority, the field of corrections and more specifically
the correctional practitioner, exercises extensive
autonomy in his actions. In many, if not most, situa
tions he enjoys the ability to use judgment, make deci
sions based on this judgment, and translate such deci
sions into specific independent actions. Certainly he
is subject to the dictate of both organization and
socio - legal dictate. However, in the course of his
activity as a practitioner in human behavior, he must and
does exercise broad discretionary power.
Corrections reflects monopolistic conditions, but
not under normal circumstances. It is an imposed, rather
139
than achieved, monopolistic situation. It cannot be con
sidered, therefore, as reflecting a valid professional
characteristic.
It cannot be validly said that corrections enjoys,
at the present time, public confidence. Rather, it j
realizes public acceptance and this more through recogni
tion of the social problem to which it addresses itself.
It has been previously observed that the public desires,
I
basically, to be divorced from the problem of delinquency
and to the greatest extent possible not effected or
influenced thereby. Here rests, of course, one of the
major problems in any consideration of a total correc
tional program. Undeniably there are growing influences
within our culture stressing the importance of correc
tional effort and demanding increasing attention thereto.
These, however, cannot be identified as a reflection
of public confidence in the efficacy of contemporary
correctional work. They might, and often do, suggest the
opposite point of view.
Though there are strong indications of a growing
ability on the part of corrections to influence public
thought, it is still far short of attaining the authority
reflected in medicine, law, engineering or science.
Cognizance must be taken of the youthfulness of corrections
as well as its admitted lack of an empirical body of
i4o
knowledge. Its ability to influence is also adversely
effected by the legal construct of contemporary juris
prudence as well as the emotional involvements evident
in the process of crime and punishment. As the activity
expands and grows, its power to influence will also grow.
Evidence of this is suggested in recent legal action by '
the State of California legislature directing the I
establishment of a treatment-control approach to nar
cotics addiction as against the imposition of harsher '
prison sentences. This, and other evidences of increasing
stature in corrections are only fragmentary and indicate
but the beginnings of a possible new era in which cor
rections will be looked to for counsel, guidance and lead-
I
ership in problems involving delinquency and the appro- ,
priate treatment thereof.
The heterogeneity evident among correctional per
sonnel, the lack of firm theory and clearly defined pur
poses and techniques has militated against its attracting
sufficient qualified people to its ranks. The competi
tion existent for superior young people is not overlooked
nor is the emphasis on science and engineering in a space
age. Financial rewards in corrections, as well, do not
stand up against promising careers in business and com
merce. As the stature of corrections grows, increasing
numbers of young people will undoubtedly seek it as a
i4i
life’s work* At present there exists a shortage of
fully qualified entrants into the activity, suggesting
I
its lack of impact upon the employment field*
III. CORRECTIONS AS A SUB-CULTURE
Lack of clearly defined identity and problems in
purpose hinder the development of a cohesiveness among
correctional workers. Up until the present time, workers
are too prone to identify as probation, prison or parole
people rather than as members of a professional group.
This tendency to assume isolate status is particularly
evident in private agency work and such correctional effoit
as is identifiable in law enforcement, camps, farms and
similar programs. There is growing evidence, however,
that a group cohesiveness is developing stimulated by
signs of the emergence of more uniform and universal
ideologies, organizations, as well as through financial
factors.
It cannot be said that corrections, at this moment,
enjoys either substantial control of its membership through
discipline or that it reflects any material influence
over training or entry. Existing, as it does, in govern
mental organization, the question of controls is subject
to both universal governmental applications and specific
political and bureaucratic conditions. Similarly, there
l42
is little evidence of either a corrections curriculum
or of corrections’ involvement in its development. By
and large, the determination of what comprises a cor
rectional worker, as well as the selection of these work- '
ers, is controlled by other than correctional authorities.j
There exist professional organizations in correc
tions at both state and federal level. Organization,
programing and efforts are unquestionably of the highest i
professional stature. These organizations advance codes
of ethics for professional correctional work. As yet
there exists little, or no, evidence of ability, on the
part of these organizations to enforce ethical standards. ;
XV. CORRECTIONS AS A SOCIALLY AS VERSUS
COMMERCIALLY ORIENTED ACTIVITY
It is perhaps in the area of social orientation
that corrections exhibits its finest professional quali
ties. Considerable attention has been given to the com
plexities of the social situation in which corrections
exists and in which the correctional worker must function,
including public apathy, antagonisms, interference by
uninformed forces, misinterpretation and a multitude of
other obstacles to the successful professional application
of the correctional process.
Certainly there is no promise of great monetary
ik3
reward in the activity as a life > s work. By all standards
the practice of corrections reflects, on the part of the
practitioner, the finest social motivations, the rendering:
I
of help to the mentally, emotionally and socially mal- |
adjusted, |
The choice of corrections, as a vocation, carries
with it a decision to work in an activity beset with |
frustration on every hand. It is not suggested that
strong forces do not exist within society supporting the
I
correctional worker, even among its traditional antagon
ists, Yet in contrast to other occupational activity
corrections, and the correctional practitioner, histori- |
cally, has been beset with a myriad of problems in accept
ance, support and the financial reward. These exist in .
I
such quantity as to support the contention that correc
tions is both socially oriented and of an altruistic
substance.
The absence of a profit motive and the hardships,
if hot frustrations, involved in the occupational pursuits
of the correctional worker support a conclusion that it
is a calling. Careful examination of all facets of the
behavioral sciences suggest the existence of this hall
mark of professionalism. It is particularly evident in
work with delinquents.
Hucli has been said of the social.orientation of
professionalism as reflected in the substance of the
client-worker relationship. Because of his position in
the governmental process and a more clearly definable
dual responsibility between client and society the cor
rectional worker does not equal his counterpart in the
more traditional activities of medicine and law in such
matters as privileged communication, primary loyalty
and the like. On the other hand, the absence of monetary
involvements, the existence of emotional neutrality and
the all-important factor of motivation suggest a
superiority in favor of the correctional worker in the
matter of relationship between worker and client. It is
this relationship, in fact, that is the keystone of his
correctional effort. It is through this relationship
that he makes his basic communicative contact with the
delinquent. This communicative relationship is a
therapeutic tool through which the worker in corrections
leads the delinquent away from the darkness of irrational
behavior and into the light of normalcy, Unlike the rela
tionship that exists in many professional situations,
which are founded fundamentally upon financial considera
tions, the relationship between correctional worker and
client is one built upon the finest qualities of human
interaction.
CHAPTER VIII
SÜMMAKV Am) CONCLUSION
It has been repeatedly pointed out, in this study,
that no method exists through which professionalism can
be empirically established. No accepted or measurable
criteria exist. Neither, has methodology been devised
through which occupations can be mathematically tested
against such standards as are generally recognized.
Hence, in the final analysis, the determination of pro
fessional stature must remain a somewhat arbitrary and
subjective act.
This does not imply that brash claims of profes
sional status are not subject to challenge. Experts
generally agree, as has been evidenced in this study,
upon the fundamental substance of professionalism. Occu
pations that cannot display at least a semblance of pro
fessionalism’s basic fabric must acknowledge that their
claims are without factual foundation,
I, SUMMARY
There exist two basic elements of professionalism,
external acceptance and support, and internal discipline
and construct.
1 1 4 - 5
l l | . 6 :
An examination of historic, as well as contemporary
corrections has evidenced social attitudes of a basically
hostile and retaliatory nature against the crimihal of
fender, Despite measurable progress in humane and intel- ,
lectual approaches to delinquency in recent decades the ;
fundamental attitude of society remains harsh. These
attitudes are symbolized in legal and judicial construct
and method. They are further evidenced in continued
insistence upon basically punitive approaches to the
delinquent. The concept of the criminal as other than a
willful agent of evil has not been enthusiastically
accepted. Basically, only methods of punishment have
changed. Social attitudes of the efficacy of punishment
remain fundamentally untouched.
Within such social context it can be said that
corrections, to this moment, enjoys only minimal external
support. Until and unless social consciousness of delin
quency is altered, and insightfulness into the causes of
crime increased, society will continue to resist its
applications. Such resistance will preclude support of
a total correctional process and attention to society’s
own correctional needs.
From the standpoint of internal construct and
discipline, corrections has achieved only minimal develop
ment and maturity. In the preceding chapter it was
Il47
observed that while moving towards increasing its pro
fessional stature, corrections still evidences many
weaknesses in its internal development particularly from
the standpoint of physical manifestations.
It is significant that in almost all areas the :
activity is showing evidence of a consciousness of its i
needs,
II. CONCLUSIONS
I
It was established early in the study that it was
not intended to determine whether or not corrections evi
dences true professional status. It cannot be stated that
such a state is, in fact, existent in any occupational
activity.
Professionalism is a state of occupational attain
ment founded upon the possession of certain ideologies
and attitudes and the possession of certain physical char
acteristics.
Corrections gives considerable evidence of the
possession of such attitudes. Unquestionably upon the
strong foundations evident, it will increasingly realize
the development of the physical manifestations of pro
fessionalism.
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D. ÜHPUBLISHED MATERIALS
Herrmann, William W, "Prolegomena to Police Ethics."
Unpublished Master’s thesis. University of Southern
California, Los Angeles, 1956.
Ward, Eugene H. "Aspects of Police Professionalism as
Problems Related to Professionalizing the Police
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tlfifm rsltv of Southern California LIbnmr
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Miller, Robert Russell
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Core Title
An analysis of the theory and practice of contemporary corrections as a professional activity
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School of Public Administration
Degree
Master of Science
Degree Program
Public Administration
Degree Conferral Date
1960-06
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University of Southern California
(original),
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